Over the years I’ve taught preaching in university courses and mentored a number of preaching apprentices and preachers-in-training. This series summarizes some of the most basic yet most useful preaching points I’ve emphasized in these settings.
I hope you’ll join the fantastic Jim Martin and me as we teach “Preaching That Connects” at Harding School of Theology (Memphis, TN) Feb. 28-Mar. 7, 2013. This D. Min. course promises to be practical and inspiring.
Preaching Point #12 – Monday Morning Factor: Preaching will be both more biblical and more effective when it answers the question “What difference does this make on Monday morning?”
The great heresy addressed by Paul in 1 Cor. 6 was that some Christians believed God cared about the soul and not the body (thus, it didn’t matter what you did with your body–even visiting prostitutes was fair game!). Paul writes to help these Christians see that God cares for both the soul and the body.
We see the same interest in Jesus’ ministry. Jesus did not merely teach and thus address the mind and heart. He also healed–giving sight to the blind, making the lame walk, and casting demons from the possessed.
The great heresy in preaching is that God cares about Sunday and not about Monday; God cares about the hereafter and not about the here and now. And yet the truth is that God cares as much about the regular routines in your Monday as he does about the religious rituals on Sunday. He is as concerned with your here and now as he is with your hereafter.
One question has helped me to keep this perspective in mind when working on a sermon: “What difference does this text/ topic/ doctrine/ story make on Monday morning?” If listeners can’t see in what way their life or their world might be impacted on Monday by the message, the message may not be worth preaching.
This is especially important in such a pragmatic culture like ours. People are desperate for what “works”–whether in relationships, work or spirituality. And while we must not lead people to judge the Christian faith to be true solely because it works, it does work–because it is true. I strive each Sunday to show this in my preaching.
The few times I mentioned the idea of what this means for the rest of the week, the preachers thought that was irrevelent; I just had to believe the right things. But I felt for sure that there must be more than that. How I wish more of them thought like this.
I did finally find this kind of preaching in a different tradition from that in which I grew up and found the way to live out my faith in the work-a-day world.
I’m glad you stuck with your conviction and have worked to make preaching speak to the daily lives of your listeners.
Sent from my iPad
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