Chapter 5: Let The Sermon Be

Years ago, I sat in an auditorium full of Christian college students waiting for a visiting preacher to arrive. The preacher was Chuck Swindoll. We heard a distant rumble and turned to the rear of the building to see a leather-clad man ride into the auditorium on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The “Sermonator” had arrived. He preached the Bible that day to a group of 800 students. Our lives came under the power of the preached-Word. It was a great sermon, not because of the unusual entrance, but because he opened the Bible, explained the text, and encouraged us to apply its truths to our lives. God spoke to us that day through His servant.

But there are some today who argue that preaching is dangerous and shouldn’t be practiced. In spite of the fact that Jesus Himself preached to multitudes, just as many other men did throughout Scripture, these Emergent Church leaders believe that one-way communication—monologue—namely, a sermon—isn’t appropriate for today’s audience. In his book Preaching Re-Imagined, Doug Pagitt argues, “Preaching doesn't work,”[1] “Preaching is a tragically broken endeavor,”[2] “Preaching suffers from a relationship problem,”[3] “Speaching damages our people,”[4] and “to make a regular practice of speaching may well be an act of relational violence, one that is detrimental to the very communities we are seeking to nurture.”[5] Pagitt replaces preaching with progressional dialogue—a conversation between people that discovers truth in the moment.

The dustcover of Pagitt’s book reveals his misplaced presuppositions. The front cover depicts a man shouting through a megaphone at a disinterested person—a picture of so-called dysfunctional preaching. The back cover shows the same man on a sofa listening to the formerly disinterested person—a picture of progressional dialogue. Unfortunately, the dustcover presents a false dichotomy. Shouting through a megaphone at a disinterested person is not at all a fair picture of what preaching is, and sitting on a couch listening to someone is not an accurate picture of preaching either. Read any biblical account of a sermon preached by Moses, Jesus, Peter or Paul and neither of these two images come to mind. That’s because neither picture represents the preaching which took place in the Bible, nor do they fairly represent the great preaching which is practiced in many good churches today.

Pagitt’s Emergent book claims that preaching needs to be re-imagined. But what it really does is treat biblical preaching with disdain. Pagitt fires the sermon and hires pseudo-fellowship. He propagates the idea that conversation is all that is needed in the church.

Now, of course fellowship is important, but it’s a fellowship that works in tandem with sermon-listening, not one that replaces sermon-listening. As already seen in Acts 2:42, the early church devoted themselves to “the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Each of these elements are critical to the other. We should never give more attention to one while neglecting the other three. We need to be committed to all.

The following commands make the preaching of God’s Word a necessity in every church today:

·      Jesus commanded His disciples, “Going therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matt 28:19–20).

·      Paul instructed Timothy, “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (1 Tim 4:13).

·      In his second letter to Timothy, Paul said, “And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2), and “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim 4:1–2).

·      Paul instructed Titus, “But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).

·      In the Jerusalem church, the Apostles said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:1–4).

·      Paul taught, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” (Rom 10:14).

These commands and the example of every preacher in the Bible lead us to conclude that preaching is vital in the life of the church, and therefore listening to preaching is equally as important. Jesus preached sermons and thousands of people listened. Don’t be fooled by those who tell us Jesus practiced “progressional dialogue.” He didn’t. He preached to the crowds with authority and they listened and responded to His words. Throughout the Bible, preaching is the medium God used to engage His people and nothing has changed. Let the sermon be.

Do you embrace sermon-listening as a primary responsibility in the church? Do you allow that preaching to form the basis of your fellowship activities? May our communal response to preaching be just as God designed it to be.

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[1] Doug Pagitt, Preaching Re-Imagined: The Role of the Sermon in Communities of Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2005), 18.

[2] Ibid., 19.

[3] Ibid., 21.

[4] Ibid., 22.

[5] Ibid., 25–26.