The Curse of the Academy
The story of the German anti-Christian thinker Nietzsche demands sober reflection. How did the son of a Lutheran pastor turn so anti-God? And how did the birthplace of the "reformation" become the seed bed of liberal theology?
At least one reason was this: Luther was a scholar before he was a Christian or a Reformer. And he never shook of the scholastic approach to everything Christian. Truth was packaged in the language of universities.
As time passed Lutherans lost the heart of the Gospel (even Luther suggested that the Gospel is easily lost by any community within 20 years), but Lutheranism retained the scholastic methods and outlook.
A scholastic environment - by definition - is always looking for novelty and now cut loose from the Gospel it sought novelty in new gospels which were no Gospels at all.
Something like this is happening in plain sight among the evangelicals.
Sermons sound like lectures delivered to students, verbal commentaries, complicated, devoid of real-life examples, parading their learning like a suit of "look at me" shining armour.
How different the simple preaching of Jesus, whom the crowds gladly heard! How different the preaching of truly great preachers of old, such as John Wesley who said,
“I design plain truth for plain people. I labour to avoid all words which are not easy to be understood, all which are not used in common life.”
How can we reclaim simple preaching?
(BTW, simple preaching is not simplistic preaching. Simplistic preaching is devoid of doctrinal content and thrown together without much preparation).
(I assume, below, of course, that prayer lies behind all human efforts at preaching.)
Five Keys to Preaching Simply
1. Think about the most ordinary Christian in the congregation, when you prepare. You know the congregation. Choose a couple of ordinary folks and write the sermon for them. If you preach for ordinary people, the super-educated will understand as well. If you preach to the educated, you will go over the heads of most of the congregation (unless they are all egg-heads, in which case you need to ask the far far far more serious question of why?)
2. Wear your learning lightly. You may have consulted the Greek or Hebrew text, you may have grappled with high doctrine, but let all of that recede into the pale distant background. Don't quote books you've read, authors you know or big fancy terms. It gives the impression you are just showing off your knowledge and therefore glorifying yourself, rather than edifying your hearers. And it confuses the ordinary hearer.
3. Preach from the heart, not the head. How did God's word impact your heart and life as you were preparing it? Unless you allowed it to touch and transform and excite you, it will never touch your hearers. A lecture-style sermon imparts information, which will drain away before your Amen is spoken, a from-the-heart sermon, while fully engaging the mind, will make the vital 12 inch miracle journey from head to heart.
4. Use illustrations from every day life. Finally, use illustrations, especially from daily life. Jesus worked hard to craft these into eternally memorable stories. He's our example.
5. Speak clearly and slowly and passionately. A preacher's voice is his most important tool. If his accent is broad he needs to work hard to correct it, if his volume rises and falls, he must stabilise it, if his speech is monotone, he must modulate it according to the very words he is speaking.
Such simple preaching may not impress peers, it may not attract many hits, but who cares a monkeey's? It will instruct God's people and build their faith.
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