Preaching and stand-up comedy...

Churches that are really successful usually seem to have a common attribute in the pulpit. It is that of speaking into the culture and answering the heart cries of the people, the core questions that underlie everyone’s lives and ambitions. One example is in Seattle, where Mark Driscoll preaches to the un-churched, those that in our day and age are greatly spiritual (in that they believe in some sort of transcendent nature of the universe), but also greatly lacking truth. So he preaches hard the truth of Scripture and the exaltation of Jesus to ground all worldviews and to funnel them into the core of God’s truth. Another example is in Dallas, where Matt Chandler preaches in one of the centers of the Bible belt, where everyone has heard a lot about Jesus, but there is rampant false teaching, empty Christian platitudes, dangerous theological pitfalls, and straight-up non-sense everywhere you look. As 2 Corinthians 11 puts it, there are many “different Jesuses”. So he preaches against pop-Christianity and easy-believism, those that seek to make being a Christian just another activity you do on the weekends and pronounces the truth and the reality of Christian life according to the Scriptures in the midst of the mess. He preaches with alarming honesty about his own depravity and shortcomings, and invites all to be honest with God and themselves and stop hiding behind the façade of religion and Christian cliché, to simultaneously cut to the heart of Jesus’ humanity and exalt his deity, and to offer healing to the broken spirits of those that have been picking at the rotting meat of false piety and deprived the fresh meat that Christ offers in himself.

No other profession or job seems to be so dependent on relevant and constantly updating evaluation of current times and thinking than that of preacher. Mark Driscoll makes the comparison that the only job today similar to preaching is that of the stand-up comedian:

Stand-up comedy and preaching are the only two mediums I can think of in which someone walks onto a stage to talk for a long time to a large crowd. Dave Chappelle, Carlos Mencia, and Chris Rock are genius at capturing an audience using irony and sarcasm.

And this is pretty true. I can’t think of another job like that. But, they are drastically different on one point: the comedian performs the same material hundreds of times and only has to come up with a new act every once in a while so he can sell more tickets and more CDs of his material. A preacher must week-in, week-out come up with “new material” for his next sermon. Not to say the preacher deviates from preaching boldly the Gospel every time (which he should), but this puts a much higher demand on the preacher than on the stand-up comedian, and the burden of hard work bears much heavier on the preacher to fire an arrow to the heart of the culture and its thinking every time he stands up to speak. Not to mention the temptation I’m sure exists to water down the message and just try and appeal to the audience that is listening and make them laugh or feel warm and cozy inside, despite the wicked hearts that constantly beat in the chests of the community.

All that to say that preaching 200 years ago is drastically different than it is now. Even 50 years ago, or last decade sees vast swings in the methods of preaching and the sins and erroneous philosophy of the given time period it is given in. Read Wesley’s sermons, Spurgeon’s sermons, Paul’s letters, and then listen to those of Billy Graham, or Mark Driscoll, or Matt Chandler. There are drastic differences in the people that are being preached to in these times and places, and the sins and certain types of foolish thinking that is espoused in each of these periods that requires loving correction. 18th Century Britain is far different than 21st Century America, and people think differently all over the world. In every instant of time some new ism or heresy is being promoted that the entire community seems to grasp onto. Successful preachers throughout history recognize this, and aim their guns, so to speak, at these targets in an attempt to correct the wisdom of the world. This doesn’t mean that the Gospel is substituted by human philosophy or likewise, but it does mean that people need to be communicated to in their own culture, time period, epistemology, and vernacular. This I believe is part of what Paul meant when he wrote:

I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

(1 Cor. 9:22-23)

Now I am obviously no preacher, but I do enjoy listening to preachers and the method in which they perform their craft, though this is not my only reason for doing so. God forbid I just aim to criticize and pick apart the hard work of men God has called to proclaim the word of God, though I could raise many an issue with Joel Osteen’s preaching, and much of the silliness that is broadcasted on Christian television.

But my point is that I think it wise to seek a church and a preacher that speaks into the culture in which you are, and that it should be a high priority (if not the highest) to any Christian looking for a church to attempt to find where the truth of Jesus and his Gospel are emanating into the surrounding community from the pulpit, and where lives are being transformed by its power that only it possesses. It is something surprisingly difficult to find done well, but I hope we are ever-mindful of its importance.

p.s. speaking of Joel Osteen, below is a humorous and deadly accurate video by Mark Driscoll on this topic...enjoy.