The Changing Values of the Church # 7

The Value of Preaching

A few months ago my friend, Frank Bellizzi, did a few posts on his blog in regard to a gospel meeting conducted by Evangelist T. B. Larrimore in Sherman, Texas in 1894. (Frank's posts can be found here, and here, and here). For five months, Larrimore would speak every day, twice a day, and three times on Sunday. Over 250 people were baptized at this meeting.

One Brother Earnest Hildebrand, a member at Sherman, wrote to Gospel Advocate about the meeting reporting that "Still, nobody seems tired, and no one seems willing to entertain the thought of closing the meeting...There has never been the slightest inclination of even a probable decline in interest, or in the mental, physical, or heart-power of any one engaged or interested in the work."

Larrimore later wrote to Gospel Advocate editor David Lipscomb, stating that the average length of sermons for this meeting was fifty minutes and the entire service lasted around seventy minutes. Lipscomb states his reason for reporting this meeting as the basis of an appeal to preachers and churches everywhere to do more preaching.

My purpose here is not to simply rehash what Frank has already said well enough. But since his posts, I've thought about this a lot and I've re-read those posts often. What strikes me is how far we've come in our church culture over the last century.

Now this isn't a total lament. I'm not advocating a return to fifty minute sermons. Absolutely not! But am I amiss to sense yet another swinging of the pendulum in our church culture? Not only did the church once seem to place a higher premium on the assembly and on Scripture, but it seems that we once had a higher view of preaching.   

During my recent job search, I contacted one church whose leadership demanded that sermons be kept to about fifteen minutes. I told them I would be hard pressed to do that. I had my rejection letter within the week. Now just for the record, I try to keep my sermons to about twenty minutes. I sometimes go into twenty five minutes, but rarely thirty. It took years to learn how to say something worthwhile in twenty minutes.   

The point of this post is not sermon length. But what I'm out to demonstrate is the low view that so many have of preaching these days. Some in a movement that once tolerated fifty minute sermons are now demanding that preaching be kept to fifteen minutes. In time, I wonder if sermons will be held to ten minutes or if some of our churches will dispense with preaching in worship altogether.

I've no doubt that Larrimore's meeting was successful in his time because it was a different time. In an era before the gradual shift from modernism to post-modernism began, rational argument and logical deduction were very persuasive. Now we're told that we preach to a sound bite generation who are accustomed to commerical breaks, audio-visual technology, and emotional appeal. We're told that we must connect with the culture, be more interactive, appeal to more senses than just the sense of hearing. We must persuade the heart and not just the head.

I agree to an extent, but my concern is that we might have underestimated the power of the spoken Word. The timeless Scriptures seem to maintain a very high view of preaching.

• While the world considers the preaching of the cross to be foolishness, the saved know that it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:23-25).
• Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17).
• The Word, like the rain, always accomplishes its purpose and does not return to God void (Isa. 55:10-11).

So just how much do we accomodate our preaching to a supposedly post-modern culture that doesn't seem as persuaded by logic and explanation? Where is the line between accomodating the message and dumbing it down?  Where is the line between accomodation and entertainment?

Have we lost confidence in the power of God's Word to do its work? Might we have insulted the masses by judging them too shallow to handle biblical exposition? What do you think?      

Comments

[Tim Archer]

But are we right to equate "hearing the Word of God" with preaching? Not that I'm against preaching. But it seems to me that "the sermon" as practiced was developed after the time of the New Testament, developed to meet the needs of a certain point of time. Would it be so wrong to have a shift in how to meet those needs?

That being said, I don't know that people are focused on meeting their spiritual needs. It's hard for me to deal with the U.S. obsession with time. Service can't go more than 60 or 75 minutes or whatever. Most countries don't work that way, unless they've been influenced by American missionaries. Can you imagine sitting down at the Thanksgiving table and announcing: "OK, we've got to be through with this meal by 1:00"? I see that influencing our "sermon tolerance." We correctly want to give more time to praise, more time to the Lord's Supper, etc. But we still want to do everything in a set amount of time, so something has to give. The sermon is an easy target.

Grace and peace,
Tim

[Matthew]

Good preaching is a beautiful thing. I think in preaching today, there should be a blending of the forces in communication. We preach, video, sounds, and dialogs. It is a sound clip culture. Or maybe people are tired of bad sermons. Andy Stanley preaches for 45 minutes and thousands of people come to hear him. I am not sure, but preaching should still carry weight.

[brian]

part of it is meeting the needs.
and the problem of some should be moving on to meat but still want milk.

if our assembly focus is outsiders, yes, I can see having shorter lessons, more media, etc. (yet I don't agree that sunday morning is primarily or even secondarily evangelistic)

too many long time members don't want depth in the lessons, and bible classes don't draw as many either.

my question is: can we get good Bible study on our own, without a community? I don't know.

[Frank]

Btw, that IS my pulpit in the photo. The height occasionally brings on a nose bleed. But that just makes me feel all the more priestly.

[preacherman]

Wade,
Great thoughts brother.
I think we can still preach shorter sermons without dumbing down the message.
I believe we need to adapt to society and understand that people attention spans are shorter.
We need to definately be relavent and make the word applicable to every day life.
I believe preaching helps people grow in their relationship with God and should challenge and encourage them to live the Christian life Sunday to Sunday!
I think we could deliver a 15-20 minute sermon that is sound and applicable.
Again, great thoughts!
Keep up the great posts.
I hope you have a blessed week.

[Darin]

I have thought a lot about this post and I hear what you are saying but a part of me thinks about Jesus out in the countryside and I think well why don't we do that anymore.

[Bobby Valentine]

I'm thinking about it ...

[preacherman]

I have struggled with should worship be a time to evangelize or not.
I have been really think a lot lately about evangelism. Should we even have an invitation song?
Most of our evangelism is going to come from relationships that we build outside the church.
I don't know very many people who became Christians that one Sunday morning thought to themselves I think I will go to church today. I think the number would be very few if seldom. I think worship on Sunday morning should be for the believer. It should be us worshiping Almighty God. I think the preaching should be messages that motivate believers to become stronger disciples and help live the Christian life Sunday to Sunday. It is to help us grow in our relationship with God and others within the body.
Wonderful thoughts Wade as you have made me think brother.
I like that about your blog.
God bless you, your family and the believers at Alum Creek.
In Him,
Kinney Mabry

[josh from Gabbatha]

I've been tossing this issue around quite a bit myself... the value of the sermon. As one who loves to speak and gets the opportunity on occasion, I've found that it is more difficult to preach a short sermon than a long one, for me this is true anyway.

And I think our drive-thru society has a lot to do with the short sermon.

The question I've been struggling with is, "Is it worth eliminating sermon time in order to be relevant?" But perhaps the question I should be asking is, "Am I being obedient and led by the Holy Spirit in my message (which biblically will produce results) or am I just wanting to hear myself talk?" Something I think all preachers, including myself, struggle with from time to time.

Heck, I'm even wordy in my comments! Lol...

[preacherman]

Josh,
I really like what you have to say brother.
Great thoughts.

[preacherman]

Wade,
Last week my sermon was about 14 minutes.
I made the points and applications I needed to make.
All of the San Antonio Spurs fans were home by tip off against the Dallas Mavericks.
Everyone was happy.

[preacherman]

Today I preached about 12 minutes and worship was let out in time for people to see the Spurs tip off, eat lunch and watch the Texas game. :-)

[Bobby Valentine]

I could not do a real "sermon" in 14 minutes if my life depended on it ;-)

Seeking Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

[preacherman]

Bobby,
I really think sermons that are 14 minutes or shorter are the way of the future.
Whether we like them of or not we need to get use to them.
I believe preachers start loosing peoples attention after 20 minutes.
So we need to say what we need to say, sit down and shut up.

[Royce Ogle]

I have heard some sermons where 5 minutes was way too much. And some where over an hour was not enough.

Famous Baptist pastor Dr W A Criswell once began a sermon at 7 p.m on New Years eve and finished just before midnight. The title of the message was "The Scarlet Thread Through the Bible". For almost 5 hours hundreds listened to the greatest story ever told of the blood bought redemption we have in Jesus.

His peace,
Royce

[Frank Bellizzi]

Royce makes some very good points. The kind and quality of preaching makes a big difference in how long a lesson might effectively go on. If a sermon is meaty and wise and well-delivered, I'm happy for it to go on for a long time (not that many people would preach that long anymore).

We need to identify the people in our churches who have gifts for teaching and encourage them to fan that gift into flame. Powerful Christian mission is always accompanied by a strong ministry of the Word. I say, pray a lot, study hard, live what you learn, and preach on!

[preacherman]

Royce,
5 hours did any one fall out of a window? :-)