Still With the FAQs
I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. ~ Jeremiah 23:21
– Pert Near Everybody
Frequently Asked Questions
Question:
Why can’t God give preachers a message to preach?
Answer:
First, the question is not one of what God can or cannot do as in a question of God’s ability. He’s God. He not only can do but does do everything he is pleased to do. The question is rather one of what God has told us he will do.
Second, If a preacher has received a message from God, then that is a message outside the closed canon of written Scripture. He paints himself a prophet or apostle, who is adding to revelation.
Question:
What if a preacher says God gave him a message and all he means by that is he has had the message persistently on his mind and thinks, or hopes, that God has providentially guided him to this message for this moment?
Answer:
Then he ought to say that instead of leading people to believe he has received direct revelation from God in some form.
Question:
Why are there so many bad sermons?
Answer:
Because there are so many bad preachers.
Question:
Why is God calling so many bad preachers to preach?
Answer:
You need to go home, pour yourself a strong cup of coffee, find a nice comfortable chair in a quiet corner, and think about what you just said.
Question:
What is a call to preach?
Answer:
A call to preach is not an extraordinary experience. It is a God given desire and ability to preach joined with a thirst for knowledge, personal holiness, and humble heart of service attested among the congregation the man is joined to and is known by.
Question:
What is a bad preacher?
Answer:
How long you have? There are all sorts of bad preachers. For instance, charlatans and teachers of false doctrine are bad preachers. Hypocrites pursuing money and fame are bad preachers. These kinds of preachers are bad preachers the way wolves are bad shepherds. These are what might be called morally bad preachers and that has nothing to do with their abilities in front of a crowd, and usually those types have pretty good abilities in front of a crowd.
If we narrow this down to bad preachers relevant to bad sermons being preached, I can think of a few ways a man might be a bad preacher, but the primary reason is incompetence. A man is a bad preacher if he doesn’t know what preaching is or how to do it. A bad preacher doesn’t know the Bible, or how it works. He doesn’t know how to exegete a passage in its original contextual setting, connect it to the big picture of biblical theology, and explain and apply that passage to a congregation. He doesn’t know how to communicate clearly and have a point to the sermon.
I need to make an important distinction here. In some cases, the above incompetence is due to the fact that the man simply doesn’t have the necessary gifting to preach despite the numerous good qualities he may have. He’s a bad preacher but it’s not his fault and he shouldn’t be in pulpit ministry. In other cases, the incompetence is due to inexperience and ignorance. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and doesn’t know what he needs to know. He probably showed some gifting early and was shoved up front before his inexperience and ignorance could be remediated. He needs training that all preachers are supposed to receive, but far too few do.
Question:
What should a preacher do if he lacks knowledge?
Answer:
Not try to compensate for it by yelling. He should give himself fully to praying, studying, teaching, and preaching God’s word.
Question:
Shouldn’t we just accept if a man says he’s called to preach and not comment on how well or how poorly he does it?
Answer:
(Stares exegetically)
More FAQs
Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
~ Ecclesiastes 9:16
– Yiddish Proverb
Frequently Asked Questions
Question:
What is bold preaching?
Answer:
It certainly isn’t preaching hard on all the sins and problems of people who are not in front of you. Boldness is openly declaring exactly what the text says to the people in front of you.
Question:
What is a high view of Scripture?
Answer:
Viewing Scripture as inspired, inerrant, infallible, finally authoritative, perspicuous, and sufficient.
Question:
What is a high view of Scripture in the pulpit?
Answer:
A high view of Scripture in the pulpit is seen by the way the preacher handles the text of God’s word. If he reads it, explains its original contextual meaning, and applies it to the people in front of him, he has a high view. If the preacher already has a sermon and only needs the Bible to find a “text,” he has a low view. If the preacher preaches his convictions and opinions, he has a low view. If the preacher preaches the “truth” without preaching the text, he has a low view. If the preacher preaches verses that he thinks can mean many different things depending on what “doctrine” he wants to preach, he has a low view. If the preacher approaches the Bible as though it were a code book or puzzle where nothing is ever what it is but represents something else, he has a low view. If the preacher relies on tradition, what’s always been done, he has a low view. Well, I could go on.
Question:
How long should a sermon be?
Answer:
As long as it takes to clearly preach the text. If a preacher isn’t actually preaching a text, any length of sermon is too long.
Question:
Does God give preachers messages?
Answer:
God gave men messages in various ways for around 1,500 years and then he sent his Son to complete the messages he had for man. His Son chose men to entrust with the completion of the messages and the commission of transmitting them to all who would come after them. All the messages God will give are collected in a big thick book that binds them all together in sixty-six books. This book of God’s messages is given to all preachers and comes with explicit instructions to preach the messages God has already and finally given without adding to or taking away from it.
Question:
What is the preacher’s job?
Answer:
To give himself fully to study and prayer in order to preach the words God has given so that the lost are commanded to repent and believe and the saved are instructed in the faith so they are equipped to do the work God said they should do and be ready to die.
Question:
How can you tell if a preacher is gospel centered?
Answer:
He will actually preach the gospel clearly and consistently.
Question:
Shouldn’t a preacher just rely on the Holy Spirit to give him words to say in the moment?
Answer:
(Stares exegetically)
Just the FAQs
Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
~ Ecclesiastes 9:15
I know the lowercase ‘s’ is redundant and probably grammatically wrong, but the title flows much better with it. Without it, the title sounds as though this post might be something else entirely.
Curmudgeon /kərˈməjən/ /kərˈmədʒən/ A bad-tempered person, especially an old one.‘Most self-described curmudgeons would probably go along with that, though with the addendum that their resentments and stubborn notions are, to some degree, justified by a brutish, venal world.’
(OED)
Frequently Asked Questions
Question:
What sort of a man does it take to be a preacher?
Answer:
Any sort of man will do really, just so long as preaching takes all of him.
Question:
How does a preacher prepare a sermon?
Answer:
Sort of like a chuck wagon cook prepares chili. He hunts up all the ingredients and cuts, chops, slices, and dices them. He combines them into a large pot and stirs over a fire for a long time. A very long time.
Question:
How does a preacher come up with something to preach?
Answer:
He doesn’t, because if he does, he has failed before he began. God has already given preachers everything they are to preach set down in proper order and organized into sixty-six books. His probably even has an index in the front. Preach that.
Question:
How does a preacher come up with illustrations for sermons?
Answer:
He doesn’t. Illustrations are everywhere. He simply has to pay attention.
Question:
How does a preacher relate to his hearers?
Answer:
By realizing that at least some of the people, and maybe many, in front of him do not care what he has to say. Don’t waste their time, get to the point, and give them reason to care.
Question:
Does a preacher need a degree?
Answer:
Hardly. He not only needs a degree, but he needs all three hundred and sixty.
Question:
Should preachers start with a joke and use alliteration?
Answer:
(Stares exegetically)
