Tuesday, July 22, 2008

It Was In The Delivery

This is going to come out very harsh...BUT...I'm going to say it anyway.

I don't like how many pastors/preachers "preach/teach" because frankly...they are boring not very good.

OUCH...I told you...now let me tell you why I say that. A lot of pastors/preachers think that all they have to do is pull out a Scripture and talk about it. The thought is, "It's the Word of God and that is enough."

Technically, I have no problem with the Word of God...it is alive and rich. Every time I pick it up I can read something I have read before and get something new.

The problem comes not in the Word but in the delivery system. A bad speaker can get in the way of the great Word of God. You may not want to hear that. You may not like that. You may not agree with it....BUT...it is a reality.

I can already hear your complaints...in fact I already know most of the ones you will probably say but I'm gonna open the floor to you anyway...PLUS...I really want to dig into this one a little bit.

Let's talk through the message and work on some of the mechanics.

So....THOUGHTS????

[photo credit flickr.com]

3 comments:

Chris said...

Pulling out a Scripture and "talking about it" is neither preaching nor teaching. Call it something else, but not preaching or teaching. Call it commentary. Lord knows I've been guilty of that. I’ve also been known to put many a people to sleep during my messages. I jokingly tell my wife that I’ve discovered the cure for insomnia. Just bottle up my messages and make people listen at bedtime. That should do it. No, but seriously there are people who do benefit from my messages so I usually just go with being me, but more faithfully I aim for a faithful exposition of the text.
The measure isn't whether someone is boring or not, but whether the scripture in question is being faithfully exegeted. Quite frankly, I listen to boring preachers all the time like John Piper, RC Sproul and John MacArthur. I say boring in the sense that they do not come at you with all of the theatrics, but what they say carries so much weight.
In fact one of the complaints raised against the Apostle Paul was that he was unimpressive in speech.

Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Acts 20:9

Jason Curlee said...

HAHAHAHAHA "I’ve discovered the cure for insomnia. Just bottle up my messages and make people listen at bedtime."

Sometimes boring is in the mind of the listener...I listen to many teachers that my wife doesn't find very interesting.

Plus...that's why I struck through the boring part...I really am talking about people who are not good in their presentation.

Anonymous said...

I think the best preachers passionately teach the love of Christ and living in christ. The worst ones don't know the difference between the old covenant and the new.
I prefer a preacher who can plainly speak truth than one who uses the podium as a soapbox.