May 22, 2006
Sermons for Someone Else
As I listen to comments on sermons, I hear, “Even if it doesn’t apply to me, I can sit through the sermon if it helps the younger people.” Or, “That would have been a good sermon for my kids (or grandkids) to have heard.” Realistically, not all sermons are ‘a home run’ and there are instances when a particular sermon doesn’t impact us as much as another. However, I’m concerned when I see a pattern developing where people, especially our older folks, think that the sermon is more applicable to someone else (family, friends, or neighbors) than it is to them. The Spirit convicts through the Word of God, and regardless of our age, we should be seeing ‘red flags’ if sermons aren’t touching us personally. Although we need to examine ourselves for a willing heart to hear, it’s also appropriate to critique sermons to ensure they are applicable to the whole family of God and not directed to just one segment of the congregation.
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Gail;
----I have always believed that a local congregation is much like a family unit. Although it is definitely a member of the church throughout the world, its local acquaintences and emotional ties are much stronger. This is important because its overseers are entrusted with the direction of its affairs, and those affairs are the needs, weaknesses, and strengths of the people who congregate there -- locally.
----So keeping in mind that the preacher fills the pulpit because of his knowledge of and insight into the Word and his spiritual maturity, I have never been bothered by the sermon that addressed a particular group within the congregation more than another when real and Biblical needs were the point of the sermon. I see that practice as being a careful and intimate feeding of the sheep according to the needs of the congregation that the minister senses. In fact I begin to suspect the knowledge, insight, and spiritual maturity of a preacher who does not address very apparent needs and problems that are more predominant in one group than another.
----However, the principle that the whole body must be built up cannot be forgotten. Although a sermon may need to focus more on one issue of a particular group within the congregation, tending the rest as well cannot be ignored. What comes to my mind are those plate spinners we used to see on the Ed Sullivan show. They would keep all of the plates spinning in the air by intermittently giving them all his attention, but focusing just enough extra attention upon the lagging to keep them spinning strong with the rest. And never did you see them wasting attention spinning a special plate or two up to supersonic speeds at the detriment of the others. As Paul told the Corinthians, all things should be done decently and in order. If I do not see a good plate spinner in a church leader, I do not see a good leader.
----Even worse, though, is when the preacher addresses one group or another in the church that is not toeing a line drawn, without Biblical support, to the favor of other groups. The favored groups in our church are the thirty and forty somethings and their children. The toe line has been drawn without regard to the thoughts and feelings of their parents in the Lord, which is unbiblical. So it is no wonder that, regarding any issue other than toeing that line, our older folks often feel their needs have not been addressed by the messages from the music stand.
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