Does Preaching Style Guarantee Ministry ‘Success’?

Posted by Erik in Irish Calvinist on Jul 6th, 2010 | 9 responses

Our American culture really loves to elevate superstars. We grab what the star does, says, and believes and try to cut and paste that into our lives to generate the same result.

Pastors have their heroes too. I suppose that if we were to ask 10 evangelical pastors what pastor has been the most influential in their lives, perhaps 7-8 of them would say, “Rick Warren.” He is really unrivaled in his influence and reach today.

So when he talks or in this case tweets, people listen. I listen. I want to know what and how pastors think. In my experience they think a lot like Rick Warren. And frankly, I think this type of thinking is both unbiblical and unhelpful.

So here is a statement. Now, granted, you can only use 140 characters in a tweet. But it looks like this one has been carefully worded and even capitalized so as to make the point. And further, it is a tight summary of the type of thinking that has filled Rick Warren’s books. (so I don’t think I’m off base in writing this post–see also here).

Here’s the quote:

A church stays small when a pastor uses an outdated preaching STYLE.God called u for today’s hearers,not 500 or 50 yrs ago. (Rick Warren, permalink)

I really think this encapsulates the thinking of many in evangelicalism today. And if he is right, then we had better be careful with our style. After all, our impact depends on it.

We are Talking about Conversion (or Gospel) Growth
First, I assume that Warren is referring to growth related to conversion and sanctification rather than just drawing a crowd for numbers’ sake. Much of what he has said over the years relates to this type of growth so I think it is a safe bet.

My issue then with this type of thinking is that it emphasizes that a spiritual result can be achieved by a tweaking of a personal style. In other words you can achieve the spiritual end (conversion & sanctification–church growth) through the employment of a particular style. And conversely you will hamper conversion and growth if you employ a particular preaching style that may have worked in the past but is now out of date.

The emphasis here in this type of philosophy of ministry is on the delivery rather than the content. It assumes that the style of preaching can bring about the intended means. It also assumes that faithful preachers from previous centuries (Whitfield, Edwards, Spurgeon, Lloyd-Jones, or the Apostle Paul for that matter!) would not be able to preach effectively today (or at least that they would have to change their style to do so).

Swiss-Cheese Theology
I completely reject this type of thinking. I reject it on a theological basis. The human heart is not awoken by style but by the gospel, the Word of God. Paul knew that the Corinthians wanted style but he gave them what they did not want in order that they might get what they needed (gospel). (1 Cor. 1.18-24) God calls people from within the various camps of people clamoring for style to love Christ (1 Cor. 1.24). In summary, God uses weak people to proclaim a powerful message and provides powerful results so that he gets the glory and we boast in him.

Furthermore, are we to assume that folks like Tom Carson experienced small church ministry because of his ‘style?’ Could it have been that the Roman Catholic opposition in French Canada could have been over come if Tom had just employed a more savvy style?

What about Jeremiah? Could his following and ministry have gone better if he would have had a more current style? Same for Ezekiel.

Not to mention Jesus. Remember he was betrayed by a intimate disciple, considered to be crazy by his family, abandoned by all but one of his 12, ultimately killed by the crowds that followed him, and had only a handful of friends and family there at his death. Was it style or substance here? John 8.44

Pragmatism is Pastorally Paralyzing
Instead, pastors must understand that true gospel growth in a church is a result of God’s sovereign grace working powerfully in the hearts and lives of people. It is not fundamentally his own style that builds the church but the word of Christ proclaimed.

Not only is this type of thinking biblically wrong but it is pastorally paralyzing. How do you think the pastor in the small country church feels when he reads or hears this after he has tried gimmick after gimmick and fad after fad? Will he not turn to the next trick or tweak of style to win these people? The only thing that transcends generations, zip-codes, and cultures is the gospel. It must be proclaimed. It is what Christ uses to build his church (Matt. 16.13). This type of emphasis upon style does far more damage than good. It turns us towards self-dependence rather than Spirit-dependence and it would yield boasting in man rather than Christ (1 Cor. 1.27, 31).

True gospel growth happens when God waters the seed of his word, giving the increase. When this has happened we sing and praise him, realizing that we are weak vessels that have been used by the King (1 Cor. 3.6)

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9 Responses to “Does Preaching Style Guarantee Ministry ‘Success’?”

Tweets that mention Does Preaching Style Guarantee Ministry ‘Success’?- Irish Calvinist -- Topsy.com says:

July 6, 2010 at 2:38 pm

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Erik Raymond. Erik Raymond said: Does Preaching Style Guarantee Ministry 'Success'? Contemporary Guru says 'Yes' I say 'No'… http://bit.ly/beDetQ [...]
Rob Hess says:

July 6, 2010 at 6:04 pm

Great work……..
Especially, “The Human heart is not awoken by style but by the Gospel, the Word of God.”
I’m going to have to write that down in my journal.
Maybe we should not be concerned about “Style” and be more concerned about if we are preaching the “Status Quo”, heresy, or just with plain old mediocrity………Your right, it’s ALL about God’s sovereign grace………..
Deborah says:

July 6, 2010 at 9:49 pm

Interesting timing! One of my friends posted this link on “how to fill a church with false converts” today. It’s a bit cheesy, but the point is made!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1n03CQcRTU&feature=player_embedded
Ian Hall says:

July 7, 2010 at 2:25 am

I agree with your comments. I would add that ministerial faithfulness rather than success is what God requires. The minister is obliged to faithfully declare the whole counsel of God, whatever the consequences. In some cases that will mean conversions & church growth. In other circumstances the man of God will glorify His master by suffering for the truth.
julie says:

July 7, 2010 at 1:10 pm

God bless you, Erik.

Your choice of 1 Corinthians and Paul’s ministry to them is key. There are a great many parallels to the city (and church) of Corinth and our cities and churches today.

One thing that I have wondered is this: could it be that the desperation that some pastors feel to try to reach people is due to people’s hearts having become so hardened from the evil in our society? Could it be that we are seeing a great apostasy from the truth, and so the temptation is to compromise somehow or try something else more appealing to the flesh, in the hope of getting the truth across? Or even to keep from having the door slammed in one’s face? I find this temptation sometimes in my witnessing.

But whatever the difficulties might be, you are right on track: the answer is the Gospel. It is the power of God (Gr: dunamis) for salvation! Romans 1:16.

By faith we share it and preach it because that is what God calls us to do. I echo Ian’s comment, which is faithfulness to God, not human measurements of success or lack of it.
Erik says:

July 7, 2010 at 2:12 pm

I think 1 Cor is really a great place to go. Paul new what they wanted and he didn’t give it to them. He was anything but seeker sensitive. He gave them what he needed. This is not an excuse to be irrelevant cultural dinosaurs but a charge to be gospel-saturated heralds. Some pit one against the other as if you can’t be relevant and faithful with the gospel.
keith says:

July 29, 2010 at 8:02 pm

Erik,
I enjoy reading your blog but this time I think that you missed Warren’s point. Or maybe your past interaction with his writings caused you to see this tweet in a more negative light than necessary.

Warren doesn’t write that changing the style of preaching will grow a church. If that’s what he wrote, then your critique would be appropriate. But all he says is that style may be one factor that a church stays small (or at least that’s how I read the tweet). I think that his point is that some churches are stuck (either musically, style of preaching, or something else) in a different decade.

We have to stay current enough that we can communicate the powerful truth of the gospel in a way that today’s hearers will listen and understand.

What do you think?
Tom says:

August 3, 2010 at 10:24 am

Keith,

While I certainly could not speak for anyone else, I think perhaps you’ve committed a small category error. What I mean to say is that when you say things such as “We have to stay current enough that we can communicate the powerful truth of the gospel in a way that today’s hearers will listen and understand” you are assuming that current means with a different style. This is not necessary and has time and again been shown to be inaccurate. There are ministries all over the world where the preachers have been preaching the same way for the past 50+ years and by God’s grace the churches keep growing and growing. A well known example might be John MacArthur. One can listen to a message he has given in the seventies and one he gave 2 weeks ago and his style has not changed. Sure, the illustrations have certainly been updated to fit today and his analogies will refer to current events for the most part but if you look at his notes from then and now you’ll see his “style” is the very same. Current should only refer to the illustration or anecdotal content. For example, if we were to take one of Machen’s sermons and read it in church, most folks would not get many of the references Machen has made except the ones from the Bible because the historical context was different. However, If we took his exact message and merely updated the illustrations or references to things that exist today without changing anything else, I think you’d find that it would not seem incongruous at all and you would not miss a beat.

The Point Erik has made above (a similar category error on Warren’s part) is that Warren is saying one can achieve differing Spiritual results through differing Human means. This is counter intuitive to the Scripture because humans do not achieve spiritual results, God does. As long as the message is the Gospel then style plays third fiddle. You are not responsible for the Spiritual results of the message, God is. The Glory is his, not mans. Short version is that it is Christ who grows churches, not pastors and their preaching style. Christ uses the Gospel to build His church. Not the Pastor’s preaching style. But the Message must always be the Gospel.
Chris Nelson says:

August 7, 2010 at 10:49 pm

Just finished reading the new bio on Bonhoefer and he commented, paraphrase, “relevance is the death of preaching”. He held the authority of the word of God above anything we do in the pulpit and that is correct.