Preaching to a changing world

The way that congregation members listen to sermons has changed, and so the way we communicate must also change.” That is what we are constantly told. What should we do about this?

True but not enough

A couple of things to say before we explore this further.

The call for change must be heeded. Proclamation is an act of communication and it is not good enough to speak the truth but not be concerned with whether or not our words are heard, taken on board or understood.

But there is more to the story than the speaker and the hearer. Proclamation of His word is the authorized means by which God communicates His truth, by His Spirit. To merely concentrate on communication between human speaker and hearer is to ignore what is more important: that God speaks through His Word, His word proclaimed by people and understood and believed through the work of His Spirit in the lives of the hearer. So it is our responsibility to speak the truth revealed in Scripture, but we must do so in an interesting and relevant way.

And we must also consider the role of the hearer. It is easy to place all the responsibility for communicating on the speaker. It is also the responsibility of the listener to hear well. We must heed the warnings in Hebrews that ground that soaks in the rain but does not produce fruit is to be burned. Keep reading.