These discussions are by no means new. I am always amazed at how simple the New Testament addresses these issues. Preaching and prayer are the duties of the Elders. Everything else is secondary. Yet somehow, when services become exceptionally long, and people are used to lots of music, what should be cut out?
Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones answered this question years ago in his book Preaching and Preachers. I thought a quote from him would be very helpful at this point from page 154-155:
"Or take another aspect of the same subject. I hear from many sources in many countries that there is an increasing tendency among congregations to dictate to the preacher as to the length of his sermon. I have been told by many young preachers that when they have arrived at a church to preach, they have been handed an Order of Service paper on which everything has been put down in detail and timed: ‘Eleven o’clock, Call to worship—Twelve Noon, Benediction’. And as they demand one or two Scripture readings, several prayers, three or four hymns, a children’s address, an anthem or solo, and time for the announcements and the receiving of an offering the sermon of necessity must be very brief.
Now why is this? Is there not something seriously wrong with such people? This is not their attitude to a play or some other programme on the television. The trouble there is that it ends too soon. It is the same with a football match or a baseball match, or whatever else interests them—the pity is that these things come to an end soon. But why the difference here? This is a most serious question. In those other realms they do not object to the length because they enjoy it, they like it, and they want more of it. Why then is it not the same with the Christian? I am again raising the question of assuming that these people are Christians simply because they come to the service at all. I am suggesting that if they put these time limits on sermons they are more or less confessing that they are not Christians, that they are lacking in spiritual life. Why is it also that so often they are listless in their listening? They often give the preacher the impression that he is allowed to preach by their leave, and only on condition that it will be brief. There are even some people who in a literal physical sense settle down to endure the sermon.”
(For those interested, I have uploaded an 8 minute audio clip with that quote in the context. Link here.)
Jones obviously has much more to say, but I think that quote hits home hard enough. He may be a little drastic in his wording that people are not Christian if they do not want to hear a sermon. However, John Piper is right on when he stated that it is by preaching men are saved, and it is by preaching that men are preserved. It is the duty and should be the desire of the Christian to hear God’s Word expounded upon at least Lord’s Day after Lord’s Day. I would suggest even more often.
Jones further argues that it is the duty of the preacher to determine the length of the sermon. Is he not the man called by God to proclaim his Word? However a service may be arranged and scheduled, it should always allow for the freedom of the Preacher.
Soli Deo Gloria
2 comments:
Although I think Jones may be asking interesting questions, I'm not sure I would call his attitude on this point helpful. A person who seeks to set a time limit on a sermon is not a believer? Sheesh.
I strongly believe in the preaching of the Word. I also think sermons should be relatively short -- around 20 minutes. Much more than that loses people, including me. What needs to be balanced here is 1) the listener's responsibility to listen, and 2) the preacher's responsibility to deliver the message without dillydallying. I've heard too many sermons that ramble, or veer off on too many tangents, or bite off too much for one setting, or spend too much time simply retelling the events of the Scriptural passage read aloud.
As a high school English teacher, I viewed the cardinal sin as wasting my students' time. I would be more willing to entertain Jones' views if I heard from him an acknowledgement that preachers have a responsibility to proclaim the Word with integrity. Otherwise, accusing listeners of "listlessness" may just be an attempt to win the kind of license for poor, shabby, ill-prepared and rambling preaching that Jones may himself be guilty of.
1) “A person who seeks to set a time limit on a sermon is not a believer? Sheesh.”
I realize this statement is very harsh. That is the problem with quotes. They fit into a larger context. Jones also makes an argument that people who call themselves Christians and yet do not like it when someone preaches an evangelistic sermon in the same fashion
2) “What needs to be balanced here is 1) the listener's responsibility to listen, and 2) the preacher's responsibility to deliver the message without dillydallying.”
Jones would wholeheartedly agree. He would argue that it is the responsibility of the preachers to be thoroughly prepared in every way. He would also say the preacher needs to assess the congregation as best he can.
Another problem is that in this series of lectures, he explains what preaching is and what it is not. If ministers of the Gospel understood what preaching really is, they should not be doing the very things you speak of.
3) “I also think sermons should be relatively short -- around 20 minutes.”
This is where you and Jones might have a problem. Jones would say that the preacher might need to preach only twenty minutes. Yet he must have the freedom to decide. A preacher should “know himself” well enough as to what he is capable of and what the congregation is capable of.
I have a pastor friend that preaches for twenty minutes. I did not know this when I went to visit him. I got up and got ready for church. I helped my wife get the kids around. I spent time driving to his church. I endured 45 minutes of music and other “stuff”. When the sermon was finally preached, I thought “What a great sermon!”
The problem was that I was served the most wonderful chocolate fudge Sunday. Yet I only managed to get one spoonful. I felt cheated. I wanted more! His thought was complete, yet he was good enough to go longer and expound more. Perhaps he knows his congregation was not able to handle more. I, however, was starving!
The Apostle Paul would literally preach into the night until men would fall asleep and fall out of 2 story windows (see Acts). The Apostles would preach daily. Oh, if there would be that kind of desire for hearing God’s Word today!
4) “As a high school English teacher, I viewed the cardinal sin as wasting my students' time.”
Agreed! Much of what is considered preaching is not preaching.
5) “I would be more willing to entertain Jones' views if I heard from him an acknowledgement that preachers have a responsibility to proclaim the Word with integrity.”
He does exactly that!
I think if you went to the website that allows you to listen to one sermon a week, you would find yourself listening and wanting more. An hour will pass while seeming like it was twenty minutes. At least he does that for me.
A good example of a man who preaches an hour-long sermon on a regular basis is Dr. James Renihan. His arguments logically follow, and he preaches with passion.
Have you ever listened to John Piper? Go to desiringgod.org. He is absolutely fantastic and he preaches usually around 40-45 minutes.
Give them a try.
“As a high school English teacher, I viewed the cardinal sin as wasting my students' time.”
Discussing this with a mind as sharp as yours and a teacher to boot is not easy. You obviously have a great advantage speaking to students on a daily basis. In no way do I think I am right and you are wrong. I just hope you give Jones the opportunity since I can’t reproduce his entire lecture series here.
God Bless
Post a Comment