Ever wonder why preachers just can’t talk normal?
“Praise God, the fire of God is gonna FALL in this place tonight, amen? We’re blessed beyond measure, we’re the head and not the tail. We’re gonna have us a TIME in the Holy Ghost. Can I get a witness in the house tonight?”
And that’s just the warm-up.
The sermon is usually full of the same kind of hype. If I hear one more preacher say, “How many know that _____________?”, I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ve gotten to the point where I almost can’t listen to a sermon anymore. (I like to preach ’em, just not listen to ’em.) 🙂
This is the deal. I believe, but I don’t believe.
I believe in the power of God, the gifts of the Spirit, and divine manifestations of God’s presence. I believe in healing, and miracles, and I believe Jesus intervenes in people’s lives and changes them.
I believe the substance. I don’t believe the packaging.
I just can’t look at some manic, spit-&-polish, hair-slicked-back, smooth-talking, FAST-talking preacher in an expensive suit with an eternal smile plastered on his face, and say to myself, “Now THAT’S real.”
If we could watch how some of these guys talk when they come away from the podium–how they talk to their wives or kids in the car, how they act in the grocery store when they don’t think anyone recognizes them–I think we’d be surprised.
I’m not even talking about secret sins (which do happen, too); I’m just talking about being real. Why can’t we just be REAL about our faith–or even about our doubts? Why do feel we must always portray to the public that we are in a perpetual good mood, or always in control, or never discouraged? Where did we come up with this “the-show-must-go-on” mentality?
To me, the danger is that when we see our leaders act this way, we often fall into the snare that we must be the same way. This is where the whole super-Christian myth comes into play. It’s not unlike the image of beauty that is portrayed in the magazines–airbrushed, photo-shopped models who are imperfect but made to look perfect–that prompts our young girls to starve themselves and go under the knife. Our women are killing themselves trying to live up to an image of beauty that is not even real.
By the same token, we’re presenting a public face to Christianity that is virtually inaccessible to the common man–because in real life, not even the preachers act that way all the time. For those who believe it, it presents an impossible standard to live up to; for many, however…it just comes off as fake and hypocritical. And that does as much damage as the other.
This is just one more thing that I’m de-constructing in my own life, because I basically learned to preach from watching these guys. I have unlearned a lot of that packaging, although every once in awhile, I catch myself falling into that same type of rhetoric. It’s been a process for me, but one I’ve embraced, because the less I believe this packaging, the less I believe myself when I sound that way. Whatever I present, and in whatever format…I want it to be real, to be accessible, something people can grab onto and live with.
I want to believe–and believe.
Wayward Son
Musician. Composer. Recovering perfectionist. Minister-in-transition. Lover of puns. Hijacker of rock song references. Questioner of the status quo.
I'm not really a rebel. Just a sincere Christ-follower with a thirst for significance that gets me into trouble. My quest has taken me over the fence of institutional Christianity. Here are some of my random thoughts along the way. Read along, join in the conversation. Just be nice.
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Jeff,
You aren’t the only one. I was educated in one of the largest pentecostal churches in the country. I got crap for being myself in Bible college, and for not preaching like everyone else.
But when you work with youth they see through the crap so you learn to be real the hard way.
Keep searching for the truth and know you aren’t alone.
Jeff- I hear you. No wonder so much Christian preaching is clear off the radar of unchurched people. These guys might as well be preaching in Swahili.
And if you and I can’t stand to listen to it anymore, how ridiculous must it sound to the seeker unaware?
Preach it, brother!
ummm… I mean… yeah, I agree.
I’ve drastically changed the way that I teach (what most would call “preach”) over the last few years. Not only do I want to teach in a manner that is actually me, I also want to present a model that others can follow – without formal training.
-Alan
Jason,
Thanks for coming by and for your comment. Since I got my education by paying attention in church (not Bible college), most of the “crap” I get is from pastor types who think I’m not qualified. 🙂 Ironic, isn’t it?
Drew, well said. Thanks!
Alan,
Loved this statement:
“I also want to present a model that others can follow – without formal training.”
I am one of those people who believes the Scriptures are for everyone–not just the ones who go to school to study it. The more accessible we can make it, the better.
The almost allergic type reaction I have to this rhetoric is one of the primary things that keeps me out of formal churches right now. I can no longer play the church game and when exposed to it, it causes a physical reaction and all I want to do is run.
*Smiling sadly* And no, I do not wish to run because I am feeling ‘conviction.’ I talk to my Papa every day. I am not ‘running from God.’ I am running from what is, to me, merely pretending to know HIm by saying all the right things and doing things in the prescribed way. BLEAH!
So Crefflo Dollar isn’t a “normal” American type preacher? Like if how he preaches is normal, imagine him ordering at KFC.
The Church Fathers, those who had been Stoics brought a lot of their garbage with them, speaking a homily was one of them. The Superstars of their times.
You need some good English preachers. We do understated as an art form.
Interesting that the last three comments focused specifically on delivery style; Katherine used the word “rhetoric”, Mork the words “Stoic” and “homily”, and Doorman-Priest, in his usual delightfully dry manner, suggested we take a cue from the English. LOL
It’s probably a good time to insert into the conversation that the sermon itself (as we now know it), is derived from the Greek art of rhetoric (persuasive speaking)–not from Scripture itself. Teaching and preaching are certainly Biblical, but their “sermons” were not the same thing as what we know today.
This doesn’t mean I condemn rhetoric as an art form per se (I think most art forms are redeemable), but when we use it as a centerpiece, we form a sacred cow. Again, we’re talking about the packaging more than the substance just now.
Katherine, thanks for chiming in. I definitely relate to your remarks.
Mork, good point about the church fathers, and an interesting image you put in my head with the KFC thing. Thanks. 🙂 BTW…I’ve been tracking with your blog for awhile now. It’s a privilege to have you stop in on mine.
DP….just LOL. 😀 Thanks for brightening my day.
I’m behind on your posts… but this has been troubling me too. I am struggling staying in church at all because of the hype.
I believe, and I don’t believe. That is exactly it.
What if the pastor is just plain BORING?! and what if he’s like that in real life too? At least he’s real. haha.
Jeff,
I just came across your blog. I agree with what you say whole heartedly. I too am a teacher/preacher who is not seminary trained. I learned from watching others just like you did. There is no one more phoney than a minister with that ridiculous smile plastered on his face.
I think it’s one of the reasons why Christianity is in such mess today. These phoney preachers have turned more people off than they have attracted or helped.
Gary
Well, I found you, like most others find you; you know, one link leads to another and another, and about 4 hours later, I finally get off the computer – Ok, exaggeration, but you get the point.
I can so relate to your deconstruction mode, as I am in one myself, and AHHH… the freedom that it brings!
I’ve enjoyed reading, yet another, fellow sojourner’s path out of religion’s facade!