Preach Magazine Issue 5 - Preaching to the unconverted | Page 50

50

SERIAL

Preaching problems:

advice from our panel

THE SCENARIO
I recently became the
vicar of three churches
in a rural parish. I was
clear throughout the
interview process that I
am an evangelical and
that I believe biblical
preaching to be central to
my ministry. I have quickly
come to understand that
my congregations have
no interest in hearing the
gospel; in fact, several
of the most established
members have taken me
aside and advised me to
tone down what I say.
One even suggested I stop
‘banging on about the
Bible’ and give them some
more ‘palatable’ sermons! I
am hugely discouraged and
wonder if I made a mistake
in accepting the job.

RICHARD LITTLEDALE
You are clearly having a very testing
time, although I wasn’t sure whether
this was in all three churches or just
one of them? I wonder whether they
truly do have ‘no interest in hearing
the gospel’, or whether they struggle
to hear it in particular ways. Jesus
was preaching in an era when the
appetite for the formal teaching of
the synagogue was on the wane, and
yet he could still draw huge crowds
to listen to his stories and teaching.
Sometimes it is not that people don’t
want to hear about this, but rather
they don’t want to hear it like that.
You may find that a change in the
flavour of your sermon could help
– preaching reflectively
instead of analytically, or
using narrative instead
of argument. A change

SOMETIMES IT IS NOT THAT
PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO HEAR
ABOUT THIS, BUT RATHER
THEY DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT
LIKE THAT.

in vector may help too – preaching
towards the Bible from the world
rather than the other way round. If
people leave church saying ‘fancy
the Bible having something to say
about that’ you may find that their
enthusiasm to listen and yours to
preach undergoes a revolution. Well
preached, a ‘palatable’ sermon can
have just as much biblical impact – a
bit like Jeremiah’s sweet-tasting but
hard-hitting scroll.

Richard Littledale
Richard Littledale is the minister of Teddington
Baptist Church, and has always had a lively
interest in innovative communication. He has
written several books on preaching as well as two
children’s stories. He is a radio broadcaster and
runs a busy blog at richardlittledale.me.uk.