Giving Up Preaching

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Preaching is sometimes discussed as though it were an dying art. There are fewer people going to church and even fewer who are interested to listen to a sermon. Attention spans are about 30 seconds long and if you cannot tweet it then it will not be heard - or so the basic argument goes.

As a result of this there is a growing emphasis on the art of preaching. This is not without merit. Anyone dedicated to a craft is naturally interested to learn more about that craft. However, preaching as an art is not on the ropes.

At the most basic, preaching is speaking. Perhaps we could narrow the definition to speaking on a religious matter. To that end, preaching is alive and well. Preachers are a dime a dozen these days. And it is difficult to pin down what makes a good preacher beyond personal tastes. Preaching is not what the Church lacks.

The Church lacks proclamation.

Proclamation is at the root of the ministry of Jesus. Consider how Jesus inaugurated his ministry by reading the following from Isaiah:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
   because he has anointed me
     to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
   and recovery of sight to the blind,
     to let the oppressed go free, 
 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ 

Jesus did not come to preach. His was a ministry of proclamation. Even what we call the “Sermon on the Mount” is a title that later theologians called a section of Matthew’s gospel. Jesus did not preach sermons - he proclaimed Good News.

One of the ways to differentiate the the difference between preaching and proclaiming is the nature of the news. We preachers are very good at talking about “bad news”. We can describe the problems in our world, we can point out sin and speak of a broken world. This can be good preaching, but poor proclamation.

Proclamation describes “Good News”. You know when someone has moved from preaching to proclaiming when their words or actions highlight hope and mercy. We all have seen someone speaking or working and something happens, something comes over them and us that moves deep into our bones. It is that moment when you hear or see the very thing that confronts “bad news” rather than just describing it.

The best preachers I know are those who gave up preaching long ago in the pursuit to proclaim.

You are Growing or Dying. Shenanigans.

We have all heard this idea that we are either growing or dying. We hear if people are learning a new skill or if they are becoming a “better” person then they are “growing”. We also hear that organizations that rake in profits or create social change are “growing.” If there is a restaurant that has a line out the door then that restaurant is “growing” in their market.

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Conversely, people who are getting older or have stopped learning are thought of as “dying.” Organizations that are not expanding then they are “dying.” Businesses that no longer have that line around the block are “dying.”

Because you are either growing or dying.

The Truth is, nothing is growing OR dying. Everything is growing AND dying at the same time.

Every person, regardless of age or stage, is growing and dying at the same time. The one who is learning a lot may be growing intellectually but they also are experiencing a death of previously understood ideas. The organization that is growing in numbers is also dying to previous ways of doing things. The business that is growing in market share is also dying to the intimacy they had.

Philosophers such as Hannah Arendt describe a “natality.” In addition to how philosophers speak of natalities, we may begin to think of natality as the other side of fatality. Where fatality is about dying, natality is about birth. For every fatality there is a simultaneous natality and for every natality there is a simultaneous fatality.

The question is not are you growing or dying but how are you growing AND dying.

The Church is beginning to embrace the very message that she has proclaimed for 2000 years in that the Church is not dying. It is dying and being born. It is declining and growing. It is contracting and expanding.

How is "Love one another" a New Commandment?

In John 13:34-35 Jesus says “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Upon reflection I have to ask, “How is this a NEW commandment? Didn’t Jesus talk about and share love all the time? Then what makes this so NEW?”

Yes, Jesus taught about and lived out love in so many different ways so the way this commandment is NEW is the direction of the love.

Notice that Jesus says we are to love one another and that through loving one another we are disciples of Jesus. The direction of the love is toward the other person. More specifically, the direction of the love is NOT toward Jesus.

Perhaps what makes this a NEW commandment is that Jesus is removing himself from the equation of the direction of love and commanding disciples to love the other person. What is new is that Jesus is removing the requirement of direct affection and love of him (the leader) as proof that the disciple follows the leader.

It is much more common for the leader to say, “direct your love toward me and in this way people will know you are my disciples.” Rather Jesus says the opposite.

The more I come to discover about Jesus the more I am amazed at the constant kenosis (self-emptying) of God in Christ. Jesus came down, was obedient to even the point of death, and then when giving his farewell address to his disciples he says - put one another as the direction of your love.

What does it mean for us in the Church to say, “we love you Jesus” and for Jesus to say, “please direct your love to one another”?