Well That's Weird | Why Do We Preach?

Christians do a lot of weird stuff. Sometimes it’s hard to notice that when you’re immersed in church culture. Read our intro post here, and then follow along as we release a series of blogs about some of the spiritual practices that Christians do.

Preaching is kind of weird.

We might be familiar with someone talking to a group, but mixing that with a message from the divine is not common in our everyday experience of life. There are good and less good (and some downright bad) reasons that preaching has been a mainstay in the church. Let’s begin by looking at some of the traditions that got pulled together to create the modern day concepts of “preacher” and “sermon.”

This list, while robust, is not exhaustive.

Priests (Jewish) - In the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, are God’s chosen handlers of sacred things.

Prophets (Jewish) - In the Hebrew Bible, these were self-proclaimed messengers of God who mostly focused on pronouncing condemnation on the status quo, calling God’s people back to goodness, love, and peace.

Rabbis - Appearing around the time of Jesus, these were Jewish teachers who provided guidance to Jewish people on how to live a good life, conceptualize God, and understand the Bible.

Oracles - Someone considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination.

Philosophers - In ancient Greece and Rome, these intellectuals would philosophize about the nature of the self, God, the world, consciousness, etc. and orate their theories in the public sphere as a form of education and entertainment, as well as lobby for political reform.

Evangelists - In the ancient world, when a nation would be conquered, a messenger would be sent from town to town in the conquered nation to announce the “good news” that a new king was in charge.

Jesus of Nazareth - Jesus would travel from town to town, east of the Mediterranean Sea, and announce that God’s kingdom is at hand, urging people to awaken to this reality.

Letter Carriers - In the early days of the Jesus movement the apostles would send messengers to churches in other cities, tasked with delivering and orating the letter the apostle prepared, and answering questions and providing insight as to the apostle’s intention.

Priests (Roman Catholic / Mainline Protestant) - An order of high-ranking officers in their respective denominations responsible for handling the sacraments and interpreting the Bible to the laity.

Itinerant Preachers - During the first and second great awakenings, these people would travel the American colonies proclaiming a simple message of repentance and escape from damnation.

Revivalist Preachers - During the 18th century, communities would gather in large groups and invite a preacher to come and share the message of repentance and escape from damnation, often accompanied by what they saw as miraculous healings and inspirational monologuing. 

Restoration Movement/Church of Christ - a movement of Christians in the 18th century who dissociated with established denominations and found partnership in their commonality through biblical interpretation.

Motivational Speakers - The speaker blends philosophy, humor, anecdotes, and dynamic speaking to convince people that certain positive outcomes are attainable.

Comedians - Entertainers who provoke laughter from their audience through humorous observations of life, often by offending social taboos and mores. 

Educators - Transfer information to pupils by stimulating the intellect through exposure to theory and history in order to increase the pupil’s knowledge and skill.

Politicians - When public speaking, they will, often brazenly, speak about what must or must not change to ensure that the ideal way of life for the people they represent is safeguarded.

Whew! That was a lot….

If you’ve made it this far, it’s probably because you are starting to see the pattern. Preaching pulls from literally all of these things, and probably more. The preacher plays the role of oracle, rabbi, priest, and politician for the small (or sometimes quite large) group of people that are part of their community.

This is where preaching can go bad, and we tend to see it in non-denominational Christian churches and other environments where there is little accountability. Under these circumstances, preaching can become an incredibly unhealthy practice, toxifying the congregation while intoxicating the preacher. This toxic effect, however, is not inherent within the preaching act. A preacher and the congregation must both desire the toxin in order to create such an environment. It is a mutual act, like a dance. “It takes two to tango,” as they say. So, as we consider the viability of the preaching act in the church, let’s weigh out some pros and cons.

Pros and Cons

The cons below are, sort-of, symptoms of an unhealthy preaching culture. All of the cons listed are things that arise within such an environment, so as you read them, add the mental precondition of “in an unhealthy preaching culture…” Ok, here we go.

Cons

Stunts Biblical Literacy - It is common for people to offload the intellectual work of reading and understanding the Bible and its context to the preacher. The idea being, “You’re paid to do this, and you have the education.” This effectively reduces a person’s understanding of Christian spirituality to the singular perspective that a preacher is able to curate and deliver in a 45-minute talk that also must contain lots of different material. A sermon is not a 45-minute class on ancient Jerusalem or the historicity of the Jesus movement, nor should it be; but, that means that if people are delegating all their biblical education to their preacher, then – at most –they are getting 5 to 10 minutes of biblical education on a Sunday. For many, that’s all the biblical content they consume in a week other than the one-liners they see on coffee mugs, bumper stickers, and Facebook posts. Paired with a congregation that holds to and highly values biblical inerrancy (most non-denom Christian churches), and you create an environment in which it is common for people to revere their preacher as a demigod.

Bias Reinforcement - Preachers that are able to gather large crowds typically have an innate ability to sense and articulate group-think, and speak to it. If the preacher challenges the group-think, it is common for people to leave the congregation. If the preacher reinforces the group-think, people bring their friends. If a preacher wants to grow their church, it is not uncommon, whether conscious or not, that they will say more to reinforce the group-think than to challenge it.

Outsources Divination - For many, some of the most powerful experiences they have of the divine is during the preaching. It can feel like God is speaking directly to you. We all want God to see us and consider our plight, right? Of course we do! However, it is very common for that experience to become solely attributed to the man on the stage with the big book and the fancy pulpit, leaving the individual unable to invoke divine experiences on their own. 

Consolidates Power and Celebritizes the Preacher - It is common to see that the Sunday sermon will be the most powerful form of communication in the church gathering. This means that the preacher is the person most positioned to steer the church any direction they wish it to go. Being a regular presence in front of people celebretizes the preacher. This means, as it does with any celebrity, that they are under constant scrutiny. If they do or say something that contradicts the group's values, they receive a slew of angry emails and requests from the big donors to get lunch and “have a chat” about their latest sermon or social media post. All of this creates an environment where part of the preacher’s job is image management; making sure they remain, in the average congregant’s imagination, the epitome of what it means to be a “true” Christian. To fail can feel like betrayal.

Finally! Let’s explore why it’s beneficial to utilize the preaching tradition moving forward.

Pros

Education - Preaching remains an excellent vehicle for transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently in a large group setting.

Proclamation - One of the most revitalizing aspects of a church gathering is remembering anew the incredible reality that God really is as good, loving, merciful, powerful, just, imminent, transcendent, intimate, etc… as we hope.

Condemnation - Preaching is an effective strategy, especially in our modern technological society via podcasting, video distribution, social media, etc. to shed light on injustice and inspire people to action. 

Exhortation - While a one-on-one relationship remains, probably, the best method of discipleship over time, sometimes, the indirectness of a sermon allows a person to engage with a difficult idea or challenge before getting defensive or self-deprecative.

Revelation - The Bible, while obscure, seems to have a unique, paranormal ability to pull back the curtain of reality and show us what is really there. Preaching from these ancient texts seem to be peculiarly effective in evoking that revelatory experience.

Inspiration - This is, by far, the most powerful effect of preaching. When done correctly, preaching compels us to reimagine what the world can be like. This reimagining is the fuel for change. It starts as a dream and we make it a reality. Good preaching plants seeds of the dream deep within our consciousness, effectively changing the way we perceive reality and producing hope for the future.

Conclusion

As a general rule, I’m wary of practicing spirituality out of obligation. This means, however, that we have to think critically about our spiritual practices in order to discern whether or not they’re viable. Preaching really seems to balance precariously between failing to serve us, and being profoundly formative in the spiritual vitality of a faith community.

An unhealthy preaching culture is not caused by the act of preaching. Instead, it’s fueled by the disordered relationship that we tend to have with our preachers, mixed with the nearly irresistible allure of power and fame however small the pond, and the preachers’ natural desire to satisfy a deep sense of calling, a need for security, and affirmation. But, if a preacher and congregation can be aware of and avoid these pitfalls, preaching can serve a church community greatly as a profound gift, handed down from generation to generation in the Christian church.

TLDR: Preaching can be as toxic as it is vivifying, But, when a preacher is conscious and avoidant of the pitfalls, preaching still has a unique ability to increase our knowledge and awareness of God, and hope for the coming Kingdom. We don’t preach because we have to, we preach because it’s effective.