The Danger (?) of Practical Preaching, Part 1 of 3

For the next three days I want to share an article that I recently read by Lee Eclov, Senior Pastor of Village Church of Lincolnshire in Lake Forest, IL. This is not my custom, as you know, but this brother’s thoughts so affirmed core beliefs that I have held for a long time that I thought it sensible and acceptable to share them with you. The title of the piece is “The Danger of Practical Preaching: Why People Need More than the Bottom Line.” Warning: This commentary could change your perspective on preaching forever!

Rob, a stockbroker, thought sermons should be 20 minutes. No longer. To him, a good sermon was what others call the conclusion. “Cut to the bottom line,” he said. “That's what I expect at work, and that's what I want at church.”

Stan, a preacher, didn't see length as the issue, but he was determined every sermon be “practical.” He preached on five principles of friendships, six secrets of managing money, and four ways to win over worry. He believed in sound doctrine, but he felt he had to give people something they could take to work on Monday morning.

We may expose people to a conclusion without the thinking that makes that conclusion work.These men illustrate two fallacies about biblical preaching: The Bottom Line Fallacy and the Practical Fallacy. Both reveal a misunderstanding, not merely of preaching, but of the workings of Scripture.

Picture a wilderness. A pioneer carves out a path, chopping away brush, felling trees, marking the way to a new outpost. As years pass, that path is traveled a thousand times till it becomes a wide, paved road. From it, other trails branch off, leading to other new outposts. Trails intersect, becoming crossroads. More outposts become towns. More trails become roads. More links are made till what was once wilderness is civilized.

Preaching is the work of spiritually civilizing the minds of Christian disciples. Preaching—especially expository preaching—cuts truth trails in the minds of our listeners. Our task is not only to display God's “point,” but to instill God's logic—how he gets to that point.

For example, we do not simply preach the conclusion of 1 Corinthians 13 — that “the greatest of these is love”—but we move people through the dimensions and definitions of love in that great chapter. We show that Paul intended such love be not only at weddings but also at church meetings as well. In other words, we not only establish the outpost—“the greatest of these is love”—but the truth trail as well.

But here is where we confront the fallacies….

[Continued tomorrow]