Several times throughout the book of Revelation, we encounter the phrase “whoever has ears, let them hear what the spirit is saying to the churches”. Since accepting a full time ministry position with a four year old congregation I have found myself saying the same thing and wondering how to authentically preach a gospel that transcends time to a multi-generational church with varying degrees of understanding theological principles.
In working with youth and young adults I have found there is no topic that is off limits. Asking the hard questions and “keeping it real” is what speaks to this culture. Coming up with answers that are laced with biblical scriptures, often times out of context, or clichés void of practical wisdom will leave this generation walking out the door to find a more meaningful experience that will give voice to their present day realities. However, the church has a group of older saints who hold a very different, and often times traditional view of scripture. They are more reserved and private. They believe in literal translations of the bible and certain topics should never be taught, much less preached about from the pulpit. This is the challenge the emerging preachers are met with as we move out to fulfill our call to be gospel preachers.
Heiji Faber compares pastoral care to that of the circus clown. One of the things we must learn to do with great skill and ease is walk this tight rope of preaching if we are going to honor the sacred task we have embraced. In my two months of serving as minister-in-residence I have found two things helpful. First, my job as preacher is not to give people the answers. Rather, I have been called to facilitate conversations; conversations between individuals and conversations that take place within the individual. Authentic preaching will cause us to wrestle and push past our comfortableness to truly hear what God is saying to the church. These exercises will facilitate growth and growth moves us into deeper relationship. Secondly, the preaching moment is not the time to push my personal opinions or agenda. Instead I have been called to offer hope to the hopeless, love to the unloved, strength to the weak and second chances to those who have fallen short of perfection. What I believe in the moments I stand behind the pulpit is irrelevant. I am called to illuminate God and the transforming power of the Good News.
So yes, preaching to this new generation and the Church is a difficult task. It stretches the preacher to grapple with questions that have no answers and forces us to admit we don’t know everything. For a seminary trained person, those are difficult realities, but its rewards are priceless!