We in the SBC have sanctified the bottom line. Good pastors grow churches. If your ministry is plateaued or declining (as the majority of SBC churches are) there is something wrong with you, your ministry, your priorities, or your people.
In a Facebook exchange recently, a couple of online friends unwittingly drove knives in my heart when they said that churches that are plateaued or declining should stop playing church, close their doors, and give their buildings to new churches that can be replanted in their facilities.
My Situation
It hurt because after a long ministry in my current church, I do not exactly have numbers to crow about. This church is smaller than it was when I came. I’ve had “successful” ministries before. I’ve seen churches triple in attendance over the course of a couple of years. I’ve been asked to speak at statewide gatherings to share the secret of my success with other pastors who were looking at how to make their churches grow as well.
No one is going to ask me to share the secret of my success here in Sioux City.
I could make plenty of excuses. I saw the problems from the moment I arrived and have been trying to address them, but nothing I throw at the wall seems to stick. I’ve emptied my magazine and done little damage. I’ve used every lure and gotten few bites. My tools seem to have gone dull. (How many more metaphors can I use?)
I realize that increasingly I am a dinosaur in the modern church world. A lot of the new tricks leave me cold. I am fairly old-fashioned in my views of worship. We are not into skits or interpretive dance and there are no laser light shows or fog machines in operation here. We sing God’s praises, preach God’s word, pray for God’s power, and seek to fellowship with one another. We may not always do these things well, but we try.
Over the years, we’ve had a lot of people come to Southern Hills, but we’ve had a lot of people go as well. We have lost a lot of people to local cemeteries – I mean a LOT. A few to nursing homes. We’ve had more than a few join what I call the “Dave Miller fan club” – there are quite a few blog commenters and discernment bloggers in that club. They get mad at me for one reason or another and take their talents elsewhere. We’ve quite a few move away.
So, here’s the reality: if success or failure is judged wholly by growth, then my ministry here in Sioux City has been an unmitigated disaster and the church should fire me and find a new pastor.
I am not saying that to evoke sympathy or gain words of support. It is simply a true statement. If a ministry is a failure because it hasn’t shown growth, and that has become the rubric by which we judge success in the SBC, then I have failed.
Do Numbers Mark God’s Favor?
Even when I was leading ministries that were viewed as successful on numerical terms, I did not buy into the idea that numbers were the marker of God’s favor.
In my all-time top-5 favorite books is an easy, quick-read book by Kent and Barbara Hughes called “Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome,” a book I read many years ago. In the book, they define success on spiritual terms instead of numerical, things like obedience and faithfulness and diligence and holiness instead of numbers.
The prophets’ calling was not easy. When Isaiah said, “Here am I, send me” God gave him this mandate (Isaiah 6):
Go! Say to these people:
Keep listening, but do not understand;
keep looking, but do not perceive.
Make the minds of these people dull;
deafen their ears and blind their eyes;
Basically, God promised him that no one would ever listen to him. His hearers would have dull minds, would not perceive or understand what he was saying. Can I get a witness?
Jeremiah’s interchanges with God in Jeremiah 11-22 are humorous. God gives him an unpopular message that people would reject and that would arouse anger. Jeremiah returned to God to complain about his treatment and God gave him a more intense message to preach. It kept escalating. Jeremiah complains to God and God gives him a harder job. In all that time, no one paid attention to him.
The prophets were not considered unfaithful because the people refused to listen.
I remember reading a letter written by Jonathan Edwards about the genesis of the Great Awakening in Northampton, Massachusetts. He shared how he had preached at his church for 17 years with essentially no response. None. I am frustrated at the response at Southern Hills over the last 14 years, but we’ve baptized as many as 13 people in one year. We’ve seen God change lives. If an SBC church had not had a single baptism in 17 years, I think we’d consider that ministry a complete failure. Then, it happened – the greatest revival in our nation’s history began there.
Maybe our numbersolatry is a little misplaced.
Are Numbers Irrelevant?
Am I saying that numbers don’t matter? Should we ignore numbers?
I am not. The statistical decline of my church bothers me and if your church is the same it should bother you. It is not normal for a healthy church not to grow or to reach people. To be plateaued or on decline and to be unconcerned is spiritual carelessness.
And please, let’s drop this old cherry. “Our only job is to sow the seed. It is God’s job to bring the harvest.” That is an example of a truth being used to tell a lie. Think about what we are saying with that cliche. “We are doing our job around here. God is the one who is not holding up his end of the bargain. We are sowing, but God isn’t saving.” Whatever the problem is at my church, whatever the reason is that we aren’t growing, it isn’t because God has let down on his end and failed to save sinners!
Numbers should not be the engine of the church, but they can be a gauge. A church can grow and have great numbers while operating in the flesh – numbers are no absolute signifier of God’s pleasure. And a faithful pastor can run into circumstances that prevent growth. But when numbers go negative, they serve as gauges, as indicators that all is not well internally at the church. They may not be able to tell us exactly what is wrong, but they tell us something isn’t as it should be. I would be a fool to whistle a merry tune as my church’s baptistery sits dry week after week. Negative numbers must cause me to pray, to analyze and evaluate, to enter discussions with my leadership, and to open my heart to the Lord and see if I am hindering the church in any way.
What Am I Saying?
I have thought about this a lot. I’ve brooded. I’ve lost sleep. I’ve gotten angry. And I’ve drawn some conclusions about pastoring a plateaued or declining church.
1. My church, though struggling, is not useless and should not be thrown away.
My friends were absolutely wrong. While our numbers will not impress anyone, the ministry at Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City is not a waste of time and the man who said that churches like mine were useless and should just shut our doors was ignorant of the value of smaller, even struggling churches.
- Our church is a generous giver to missions, having led the state in Lottie Moon giving every year I’ve been here and I think a few before that. We led out in giving to Annie Armstrong as well. We give 10% to mission through the CP, even during a recent severe budgetary crisis (there were a few months we had to hold back until we had enough to send it all).
- Our church is actively involved in outreach programs into the community in a number of ways. We have an Upward program that we make sure is evangelistic in tone. We do Good News clubs at elementary schools and 5-Day clubs in the community. We have done outreach groups in mobile home parks and various other ministries. We’ve reached people through these, though they generally found their way to other churches.
- We have had strong children’s and youth programs that have tended to defy the statistics about how many kids grow up and leave the church or leave the faith. While many of them may leave our church for more contemporary worship experiences, they have tended to remain in the faith.
- People have been saved. Not as many as I’d like – not even close. But we have seen people saved.
Just because we aren’t setting the world on fire doesn’t mean there isn’t some heat!
2. Don’t live in denial.
Bad numbers are not the problem, but they are an indicator that a problem of some sort exists. Don’t make excuses. Don’t give trite answers. Examine the church, the leadership, everything you are doing to see if there is anything you are doing that could be hindering the blessing of God. Examine yourself. Be willing to change.
3. Remember 2 Timothy 4:3
This is a dangerous verse, which can be both a comfort and a tool of abuse. It reminds us that people will turn from truth and want to listen to those who tickle their ears with palatable messages instead of preaching the full counsel of God. I know it is true that if I preached more messages designed to help people feel good about themselves, instead of confronting people with hard biblical truths, it would help attendance. Many (not all) of the biggest churches in America have abandoned biblical preaching.
On the other hand, this can become an excuse we pastors use. “Those people left because they can’t handle the truth.” I talked to someone last week about a non-SBC Baptist church in his city that treats anyone who leaves as anathema, as apostates. We must not do that.
4. Do not let your self-worth be tied to numerical success.
Pastors, can I tell you something? There is another word for ministry hype. It is called lying!
I was clearing out a room full of junk in my first ministry and I came on a box of old newsletters from the tenure of one of the previous pastors. This church had forced out 6 pastors in 16 years in its dark days. I picked them up and glanced through the April weekly missives from the pastor. Each week he gave glowing reports about how heaven was coming down and glory was filling their souls as they gathered in worship on Sunday. The last newsletter of the month carried his resignation. I knew that he was forced to resign in a time of deep conflict – heaven was not coming down and glory was not filling souls in the weeks leading up to his termination! That pastor had his ego tied up to the success of his church, so he wrote lies in his church newsletters week after week.
I wish he was an anomaly.
My dad and I had a discussion years ago that has led to a working theory I find accurate. Churches that have meaning-names often are the opposite of their names. The most legalistic church in one town I served was “Grace Baptist.” Churches with names like “Unity” or “Friendship” tend to be plagued by splits. My dad remembered a church called Bykota Baptist (Be Ye Kind One To Another) – said they were mean as snakes.
We pastors are bad at presenting an image to the world, especially to other pastors, that often does not reflect reality. Ever had another pastor ask you how things were going at your church and you, well, “fudged” the facts a bit?
I have to admit that writing this has been painful and humiliating for fear of what people will think of me. Pastor, realize that you are called to be obedient, faithful, and persevering. Let your success be found in God, not in the opinions of others.
5. Realize that not all of us are meant for the megas.
I thought, when I was a young whippersnapper, that one day I’d stand behind the pulpit of a megachurch somewhere. Don’t we all start out thinking we are destined for Bellevue or Summit? But somewhere along the line, I realized it just wasn’t in my future. At Pastors’ Conferences, megachurch guys would tell me if I’d just imitate them, I could do as they do. “If you’d just do what I do, you could have a church like mine.” But I’ve come to realize that megachurch is a calling for a certain personality – I don’t have it. I wasn’t constructed that way.
Be content with who you are. Strive for who God is making you to be. But don’t feel as though you have to attain a church of a certain size to have value. That message comes from someplace other than heaven and certainly not from the word of God.
It is a noble thing to faithfully pastor a smaller church, even one that struggles.
6. He who endures to the end…
I come back to the story of Jonathan Edwards and his 17 years with no response. That had to be brutal. But eventually, God brought revival.
I realized something years ago as I read through the entire Bible, examining the character qualities of the people God used to do great things. Looking for a pattern, I found two qualities that were consistently found in these characters. They often did not have natural talent or leadership ability and God never came to them asking them to find creative and innovative solutions to problems. God asked them to obey him. They did what God told them to do. And contrary to what we often think, when they obeyed God, things tended to blow up in their faces. That is the key to great success in the kingdom of God. What did they do when they obeyed God and it all went wrong?
Persevere!
Every great act of God in the Bible comes when a servant of God obeys him, then, after it all blows up, he keeps on obeying God and doing what God said even when it gets tough.
You may have failed God. I look back at my 14 years at Southern Hills and I can see decisions I made (or failed to make) and I would love a do-over. I made some big mistakes. If you’ve been at a church any length of time and don’t see mistakes you’ve made, I question whether you are looking honestly at yourself! But I have preached the word of God and persevered through good times and bad. I’ve stuck it out when my heart told me to cut and run. I have tried to be faithful and I keep hoping and praying for that moment when God acts in power.
I was on a long walk recently and songs were shuffling on my phone. One came on that made my heart leap.
Greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city.
I long for the words of that song to come true. I sat at a church’s 50th anniversary celebration some years ago and all they could talk about were things that happened back in the 60s. I do not want to pastor a church whose greatest days are in the past. I’m flummoxed about how to get from here to there, and maybe it will be the next pastor who will see those days. But I long to see the Spirit of the Living God fall fresh on this place and see a powerful new day of growth.
Lord, let it happen in the life and ministry of this failure.
Thank you, Dave! I’m not sure I can even articulate how encouraging this post is.
I cannot thank you enough for this, Dave.
Please don’t listen to the whiners.
Dave – Thanks for being so transparent. I retired from a church that had plateaued for the last 6 years of my ministry. And all that you wrote resonated within my heart. God judges by faithfulness.
Good and true word Dave. Thanks for sharing with transparency. All any of us can do is keep on keeping on what God has called us to do.
I reacted to a blog that criticized older pastors because they were not getting out of the way at 65 of younger pastors. His blog said these are bad pastors hanging on because they did not save well enough for retirement. It angered me that he failed to consider their sacrificial service for low pay with no retirement co tributions. He is a popular Lifeway writer. His response was simply to ‘agree to disagree’.
We’re graduating more people from seminary than ever before, and most are wholly unprepared for what awaits them if they go to a typical SBC church, just like most of us were. Church is people, and people, are well…..people. Many sheep are miscast as mules. But you try to love them, nurture them, see them grow, as that ultimately is how the church will grow. There hopefully is wisdom with age, more patience, hopefully a fire that still burns. If that fire still burns, then by no means should one walk away. If it doesn’t, we should already have done so. There are some who hang on to long. Others God will use until He’s ready for us to be done. Maybe even to disciple some of the young ones heading for the same frustrations we face daily
someone living off the very people he was blasting. Shameful
Well, I haven’t saved well for retirement. On my rough days i am afraid that if my retirement was set I would sail off into the sunset.
I’m not sure we take comfort in it, but those of us in plateaued or declining churches are the clear majority. By. A. Lot. Are 75-80% of us failures? I like the reference to the Old Testament prophets, as I’ve often spoken of how that is the role for many of us. The only Old Testament prophet who saw an awakening was the one who didn’t want it, Jonah. The rest preached to ears that did not hear.
I try to take solace in I’m to try to please God, not men. I fail often at that. We all do. But we persevere. We see growth where I am, then fall back. It’s like a roller coaster. In my heart I know the issues, but have yet to see them addressed to enable consistent growth. It’s been me some of the time, most of the time things beyond my control. A traditional growth model doesn’t work in a neighborhood where 63% of children come from single parent homes.
Discouragement is ever looming, but encouragement is as well. Had one join last week. Baptizing one this week. Rejoice in the victories and keep grinding through the stagnation and set backs.
That’s the call for most of us. I think God has great appreciation for those who press on without the adulation of the masses. He certainly does in His word
Your comment about Jonah gave me a chuckle. Brilliant insight. Only prophet who got results was the one who didn’t want them.
God has a sense of humor!
Thanks Dave for the encouraging word. It helps.
Dave,
I see that a lot of your replies are from pastors. Men like you that work hard, deal with all kinds of people, suffer with them, rejoice with them, & take abuse from them. Even as my pastor does. So I thank of each of you that are seeking to be faithful to God yet are frustrated by all the things pastors endure including a lack of numerical growth no matter what they try to do.
But I am confused by one thing you said:
“And please, let’s drop this old cherry. “Our only job is to sow the seed. It is God’s job to bring the harvest.” That is an example of a truth being used to tell a lie. Think about what we are saying with that cliche. “We are doing our job around here. God is the one who is not holding up his end of the bargain. We are sowing, but God isn’t saving.””
Then you go on and speak of the prophet whose message wasnt listened to then God amped up the hardness of it, or Edwards who labored 17 years b4 the revival came.
I think you have the wrong approach. Its not that you & your people aren’t being faithful [I have no idea if they are witnessing the Gospel in word to their neighbors & coworkers, etc.], but assuming they are, at least some of them, it seems like you believe that the purpose of proclaiming the Gospel OUGHT to bring conversions. That God of course isnt to blame for the lack of them so then it must be y’all.
Wrong…. at least in my opinion that is not at all how it works.
Of course no Gospel proclaimed equals zero conversions. And we are commissioned to proclaim it to all.
But proclaiming it & not getting conversions does not mean that y’all are doing something wrong [cause we know God isn’t].
In every place the Gospel first was proclaimed, in Jerusalem,Judea, the Middle East, North Africa,Greece, and from there to Europe & Russia we see a pattern in that the proclamation of the Gospel impacts each region it enters but after a while those very same regions become less Gospel oriented & succumb to secularism or to false religions of some sort [like Islam].
In every one of those places. That is HISTORY. But God always leaves a remnant.
Will God bring revival to USA or will this country sink lower in the decadence that we as a nation are embracing? I dont know.
But I do know that God, by His Spirit, has the power to move people towards Him. And that for whatever reason, does not always do that. The Spirit like the wind blows wherever He wants, and there isnt a thing we can do about it.
We are to be witnesses for the Lord, in word & deed, but as in a trial, a witness can be against the accused or for the accused.
We witness to the world that they are sinners condemned before a holy God and the cross of Christ is the only remedy. But even as the Word tells us: “the words of the cross are foolishness to those who are perishing” for “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel” .
Amen, Michael. In my opinion this stems from a muddled theology of God’s sovereignty. If revivals are brought by God’s will, & nations hardened by God’s will as Dave’s post describes, then why would we think that we’re always at fault for a lack of revival? To me, this illustrates the indecision of non-Reformed soteriology.
The ACP is based on numbers BUT it includes NOTHING about transformation. Reportedly
Many do not submit this report because it focuses on numbers only.
2nd, 67% of churches have fewer than 125 people attending on Sunday morning. I have pleaded for 20 years for a metric that more accurately reflects reality. We still have the ACP while the Titanic sinks!
Dave, what you wrote somewhat mirrors my church in the suburbs of Atlanta, mostly older congregation, with a few new people joining to equalize the ones we lost last month through attrition, becoming shut ins, death, and the like.
Not to be simplistic at all, because as a deacon I dwell on this subject a lot.
I read this post in a hurry, but had to stop to respond, because of all the similarities between yours and my churches, you may have mentioned styles of music, and I missed it though.
I think all churches split over music, traditional vs. Contemporary
Some split on the inside, while most split on the outside, younger people by and large don’t do traditional worship, ( was Birmingham worship, different than convention worship 5-10 years ago?)
It also opens up the traditional vs. Calvinist issue a little
As a traditional ( non cal) I think we trad’s struggle with what to do, Acts 2:47, and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved..
Traditionalist believe more in people free will seeking a church, or choosing to accept Christ
Which adds to our delima
So is it Gods plan for all of these church closings sweeping the nation?
You gave us all something to ponder…..
And I do wish we did as much of outreach at my church, that you are doing.
I don’t know that the failure of churches is God’s will. That’s a hard topic.
I absolutely do not believe it’s God’s will for any church to “fail.” I think how we define failure needs adjusting. But let’s say a church does close, as they do daily. Does God just decide I dont want that church there anymore? I cannot think of any church that has closed, or is nearing closing, where the burden does not rest on the people there simply not doing as God has said to do.
These are true, encouraging words. Well said.
Dave,
you and I disagree on a few things and we have never personally met. But even though we disagree some I would bet (if i was a betting man) you are plowing right where God wants and you are attempting to be faithful in being the under Shepard there. I agree with this article and you just keep on plowing. This says a lot…. “Be content with who you are. Strive for who God is making you to be. But don’t feel as though you have to attain a church of a certain size to have value. That message comes from someplace other than heaven and certainly not from the word of God. It is a noble thing to faithfully pastor a smaller church, even one that struggles.”
Dave
Another random layperson here.
In the business world success or failure is judged by numbers, we are growing or we are dying!
PTL that church SHOULD not be like that, although unfortunately it all to often is.
Our church experienced some great growth several years ago from less than 100 to 400 to 500 on an average Sunday, but has kind of leveled off since then. Our pastor is a line by line verse by verse expositor of the word, we give an amazing amount of money to missions etc but what I am most encouraged about is the way that our pastor pours his life into 20 and 30 something folks in our church. He doesn’t limit himself to them, but is intentional about really growing that group in faith. The level of discipleship that he does, and the depth that he goes with them is, I think, unusual.
At some point in the future when he looks back at his ministry, he will look back and see the fruit of his labor multiplied many times over.
My personal opinion is that churches need to be more about this task, for both young men and young women, and as strongly as possible to encourage them to participate in these deeper classes. Essentially teach them seminary level courses. This may have the side benefit of growing your successor.
I have been amazed at some of these individuals as they have come into our deacon body, their knowledge and maturity blows me away
It wont supercharge growth, but will begin to attract and retain folks who want to go deeper and mature them for our society
Thank you, Dave. This is the post I needed most to read, especially over the past few weeks/months.
Dave, I too applaud your transparency. You wrote and spoke for and to the majority of pastors in the SBC. The researchers tell us that about 80% of the churches are plateaued or declining. The church I serve as teaching pastor has plateaued, we believe. We are active in outreach, but we are not seeing the results that we did in the past. A multi-site contemporary (!) church in our area is attracting all the young adults. In a staff meeting we concluded that we could not imitate that church. If we did, most of our church members would leave or fire the staff. So, we are trying to learn new approaches to outreach–like using social media. I’m grateful that Thom Rainer and other are emphasizing church revitalization. For sure, we need that in the SBC.
Thanks for posting this. It seems to me that what we celebrate as a denomination is not faithfulness but productivity. I’ve served the same church in southern Oregon since 1991. We are a rural community that has experienced significant economic and cultural turmoil. Our national denomination seems determined that cities are the only mission field of value and our regional network of churches has chosen at almost every opportunity to highlight college ministries that are succeeding on state college campuses (the nearest one to my community is 75 miles). Small rural churches – well, I have received the same advice – step aside, brother pastor, Let us have your building and we will a young seminary graduate to replant…oops, forgot: you don’t live in a metrop[olitan area.
Well, enough cynicism for today. Thanks for your willingness to articulate what I’m certain many of us experience.
Fear of failure. Sense of failure. Being told you are a failing. Missionaries, pastors, ministers all struggle with this looming barrier in their heart and mind.
No one. No one has words to encourage you right now, Dave. Persevere through the slough of despondency is all I can say.
This morning was my own epiphany of the need to return to the joy of my calling (Jeremiah 15:19-21). I’m not saying that is your battle but it was/is mine. Persevere. The world needs you.
Really transparent post with a really good word. Thanks, Dave.
And on you and your dad’s theory of oppositely named churches, I received a tour of London a few years back from a knowledgable, kind Spanish elder who served one of the Baptist churches there. Upon passing a church from the United Reformed denomination, he paused, pointed to the church, and opined, “This is ____ church. They are neither united nor reformed.” I thought I was going to lose it from laughter.
It is odd how often that name thing is true
If this holds true, of we want unity we should name our church Corinth. If we want passion and fire, Laodicea?
Dave, I appreciate the honest and candid article. I am a layman and know that your concerns and feeling are not uncommon even by lay people. What makes a successful ministry? It seems it is numbers, numbers of people and numbers of dollars.
Does Galatians 6.13 apply to what is happening. Are we more worried about numbers than sincerity . I have as a lay person not had a great personal success leading people to Christ and I am 71. Discouraging for sure but than my hope and my comfort is the Lord. I am running the race the best I can and so are you and many others.
I cannot depend on the numbers I hear from some churches as we do not know are is going on long term There is just no telling , so we should not brag nor feel inferior or incompetent based on numbers It is hard not to, but I try not to live by the worlds standards on what is a good personal life or that the church attendance where I go is not large. The only pressure I feel is trying to do the best I can , where I am . The world thinks they have outgrown the need for a relationship with God and will not hear otherwise. If we are the faithful remnant that is what we are. You and many a good Pastor are entitled to some good old fashioned venting. God Bless
Wonderful and encouraging article Brother! I served as a Pastor for eleven years, then as a DOM for sixteen years, then back to the pastorate for the last fourteen years. After being plateaued for my first eleven years, our Church is experiencing a three-year season of growth numerically just as I am nearing retirement! Some “ups” some “downs” and mostly “level” sums up my pastoral experience and that of the churches and pastors I served as their DOM. Again, I want you to know that your article has profoundly blessed, moved, and motivated me to stay faithful!
Until we forget what we learned in seminary about how to speak and get right down to where the rubber meets the highway and speak from the heart about what Christ has done for us and why we are in love with him we can forget it. Genuine emotion in sermons because we cannot contain is the key to growing a church. We can visit 24 hours a day seven days a week but if our message doesn’t touch someone we are in trouble. We can pastor for so long we tend to forget what people really need. Expositional preaching needs tossed and so does preaching through the bible. We need to get our messages directly from God. I’ve been saying this for years.
So you’re saying you cant preach passionately if we preach expositionally? What parts of the word are we not to be passionate about?
Jeff P. I think when the emphasis is placed on the educational part of the word and the proper delivery of the word to the point that the Holy Spirit is completely left out we have missed the mark and the hearers suffer. But when we get down to where the rubber meets the highway and speak to each individual in the church while speaking to the group then my friend we are going places. One can speak the word all day but if the Spirit of the word is not present it doesn’t hit the mark. I still believe in the Holy Spirit’s power to wake folks up and cause them to want to see lost souls added to the church. We need a little less ology’s and a little more Jesus. If a child can get genuinely excited telling a story about the three pigs, then surely we preachers can get truly excited telling about Jesus. I think a little child has a lot to teach us preachers. A child keeps it simple and to the point which is exactly what the congregation wants to hear from us preachers. This is a warning, if the congregations don’t feel the power of our preaching they will disappear. Think about it, two thirds of the church doesn’t even show up for a worship service on a Sunday nation wide. This is why I keep saying we preachers have to fall in love with Jesus.
I’m just not seeing how the Holy Spirit is left out of any of the holy word He gave us. It’s all from God, through Him. And if we’re preaching from any of the New Testament, what portion doesn’t focus on Jesus?
I think if we study deep into the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead beautiful insights will be revealed to us. I think the letter can be preached without having the Spirit of the letter. In order to be effective and truly touch people we should preach with the Spirit of the letter. I think there is a vast difference between the two. When we allow our messages to become professional we have lost the people. But if we deliver the message with the power of the Holy Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit to have his way in our delivery of that message then we have captivated the hearers. I think one has to be Spiritually inclined in order to deliver a Spiritual message. The bible is full of examples of messengers being led of the Spirit which is something that is not happening today. I think just because the word is Spiritual doesn’t mean the man delivering the word is Spiritual.
The Spirit of God does not stand in opposition to the power of the Word of God. When someone preaches the word of God systematically the Spirit of God uses the word of God to do the work of God in the people of God.
I can think of few WORSE pieces of advice for the church of Jesus Christ than your enjoinder to abandon the faithful preaching of the word to simply rant about whatever topic hits your mind at the time.
PREACH THE WORD. God’s Spirit uses God’s word a lot more than your thoughts, Jess.
I am in the middle of a series on the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Spirit, Jess. But you do not want to be led of the Spirit, Jess. You want to be led by your own whims and opinions. I know that because of the disdain you have shown here for the preaching of the word of God. We should NEVER abandon the preaching of the word of God to delve into man’s opinions – no matter how highly you regard your own opinions. The Holy Spirit will not give you better wisdom than the word of God. He will, however, empower the preaching of the Scriptures!
The word is certainly inspired and Spiritual but it doesn’t mean the messenger is inspired or Spiritual. We messengers have to be Spiritual and that has to do with their salvation experience and their calling to preach the gospel. I definitely don’t intend to point fingers and I’m not directing this toward anyone because the first finger I have to point is toward myself. We preachers are 100% at fault, we cannot blame the Lord or the devil, nor the church. With every fiber of my being I think this is what will fix the church in my few comments.
Thank you for that word of discouragement, Jess. I do not think it is biblical.
Certainly, there are times when leaders fail, but there are also times when people fail. Do you blame Jesus for Judas’ betrayal?
Moses was surely at fault for the Israelites wandering for 40 years. Just like Jonah was surely to credit for preaching a message he loathed. I guess Jesus was also to blame when all but John ran away after the crucifixion, he just couldn’t sell that dying on a cross thing. His countless messages on it must have lacked sizzle.
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