There is a hunger in the church for good preaching... and a palpable dearth of it. Laypeople yearn to be engaged with the sermon but too often go home with little to chew upon.
My wife and I are searching for a church home. There is no local Church of God congregation within 45 minutes of Princeton. So, we have visited a few churches in the weeks we have been here. We went to a community church in the area that was highly recommended. I hear that some of the Princeton professors attend there. For the life of me, I cannot understand why they would - at least from a preaching point of view. The sermon was the conclusion of a series on marriage. The text chosen was Ephesians 6:22ff, a very meaty passage when it comes to marriage. The sermon was about the color of marriage. Apparently, the preacher had assigned colors to specific issues related to marriage. The sermon was, according to his introduction, based upon a book he had been reading (no, not the Bible). It was all sadly disappointing. I sat there yearning for the preacher to say something about a very powerful and controversial text. I wanted to hear something from the Word. I left wanting - not wanting more, mind you. I left wanting anything. The sermon was topical, about 2 inches deep, and full of lots of pop psychology. Dr. Phil would have been much better.
I firmly believe that people in the pew are hungry for a meaningful word from the Lord that they are not getting at the shrine of Oprah, Dr. Laura, or Rush Limbaugh. People need more than cute sayings and catchy themes or titles. They are hungry for the Word to be preached.
Not having a pastoral position for the first time in 35 years, I am now a guest preacher in other congregations. I recently preached in Illinois and Ohio at Church of God congregations. In each case the reaction was the same. People in the pew came up to me to engage me about the sermon preached. They wanted to ask questions about issues of theology, biblical interpretation, and exegesis. These are the things that listeners come to church to engage and with which they long to struggle. The Church Growth Movement has implied that we need to give people a "gospel lite" sermon. In order to be seeker sensitive we need to shy away from theology, doctrine, and biblical stories and become more contemporary and chic. Everything that I have learned over the past four years of PhD study has reinforced the belief that people are still looking for a relationship with God that is inspired by a word from God. Biblical preaching is not only, amazingly, still relevant, it is necessary and important. Notice I said "Biblical preaching" not just preaching. Much of the preaching today, like that of self help guru Joel Osteen, is filled with gospel lite and biblical happiness pablum.
I listened to Osteen the other night. He used Genesis 1 and God's statement at the end of each day of creation that, "It is good" to suggest that we should all get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and say to ourselves, "You look good." If that is the meaning of Genesis 1, then I have misunderstood its depths lo these many years. People laughed at his cuteness and smiled at his self help mantra, but they did not leave with anything that resembled biblical preaching or eternal truths. In essence, they left entertained but hopeless; feeling good about themselves but knowing nothing about the God who is good.
I cry out to pastors in pulpits across the nation and the world. Preach the Word. Give your folks something of the dynamic of its truths. Deal with the issues, people, commands, and controversies of its pages. People are hungry for the Word. Preach it. The Church needs to hear, in these times as in all times, a word from the Lord.
