Seven preacher failings
noted by 'Preaching Days" lecturer

Author and teacher Dr. Thomas Long lead keynoter

Thomas Long

Preachers frequently fail because they underestimate the collision between the gospel message and the culture of today.

That view was expressed June 10 to a "Preaching Days" audience of nearly 100 clergy from a variety of backgrounds attending an annual program at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. It was one of seven key points made by the Rev. Dr. Thomas Long, Bandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.

Decades ago sermon listeners were more likely to have "biblical and theological competence," Long said. "All the preacher needed to do was add the excitement. In 2002 we have a lack of information and we are no longer part of a Christian land. It is as if the gospel comes in on A.M. (radio) and the culture is tuned in to F.M. The experiences of God are not validated by our culture, which has an alternative language to describe experiences." He said the culture has thus eroded confidence in religious experience, and he urged preachers to give testimony in their sermons to experiences, which will not be validated anywhere else but in worship.

Long teaching

The six other failures of modern preachers?

Number two is superficial use of theological language. Long said an example is how good and evil are defined in political circles these days. Quick takes on good an evil "reduce the size of our language," he said. The same is true with a use of "love" that is overly sentimental. Such superficial applications "impoverish the Word in our culture," Long said.

A third predicament occurs when preachers fail to address theological questions the way people ask them. He urged his listeners to creatively consider what the gospel tends to say about questions people ask. Sample questions include: How much should I forgive people who do things to me? Where was God when the towers came down? And, what do they mean when people ask if I have been saved?

A fourth problem occurs when a preacher's sense of ethics becomes too abstracted. "Some preachers deliver a message that makes it too difficult for a listener to figure out how to be useful to God," he said. Long said he likes the Epistles because they outline real Christian practices. He advised preachers to take care in their use of language, noting that the tongue can be both a blessing and a destructive curse. He told the story of how a remark, "You've been nothing but trouble to me…" made to his teenaged daughter had been a "poison dart to the heart" nearly 20 years ago. "I didn't even remember what I had said, but my daughter has never forgotten it, and it has taken until now for me to take it out."

Long preaching

A fifth concern is that pastors may become "inattentive to biblical texts," treating them like "a senile dinner companion who keeps repeating the same thing over and over again." He said biblical reflection takes a great deal of time and added that texts needed to be viewed through historic, theological and literary lenses.

Two other challenges facing preachers include taking great care to establish and maintain a level of trust with the congregation and paying sufficient attention to the nuts and bolts approaches to their style of sermon delivery.

"Preachers like me can break a trust in many ways," Long said. "If I bring my rage about a congregation into the pulpit I break a trust. If my illustrations are too sweet and romantic I break a trust. Preachers need to take the issue of trust firmly in hand."

If a preacher shapes a delivery style of preaching around the pastor's own aptitudes exclusively, some in the congregation may consistently miss the message. "To reach a variety of aptitudes requires varying the structure," he said. He warned against messages that are difficult to follow because the logic is obscure or because "turn signals" (carefully designed transitional connectors) are missing.

Long's remarks were part of a morning lecture that followed a sermon in the seminary chapel. He preached on Matthew 4: 8-10, which describes the third and last great temptation of Jesus, and Matthew 28: 16-20, the "Great Commission" passages. He noted the message of the "tempter" is "that you can have in Chapter 4 what you have in Chapter 28." But he noted the two passages are separated both by the cross and what one can learn through the teachings of Jesus that take place in between. Without a journey to the cross "the church looks like a corporation with (a pastor who is) a small time executive, mirroring the values of the world," Long preached. Such a church tries to function without knowledge. But the journey through Matthew to Chapter 28 shows believers the values of the Lord so that they may have their faith formed by teaching. "The truth is a matter of timing," he said. "It is not what we say, but when we say it that may make all the difference."

Long with members of First Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia

Long's remarks were part of the first day of Preaching Days 2002 sponsored by the seminary's Academy of Preachers. His address was made possible by First Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA, in memory of G. Ernest Somerville, a founding member of the Academy of Preachers Board.

The June 11 keynoter is the Rev. Barbara Lundblad, Associate Professor of Preaching at Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY. She is the Lundin Lecturer under sponsorship of Atonement Lutheran Church, Wyomissing, PA. The June 12 presenter is the Right Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Jr., Bishop of Pennsylvania for the Episcopal Church. Bennison's appearance is made possible by a gift from long-time Academy of Preachers Board member, the Rev. Dr. James R. Stephenson, and his spouse, Loretta.