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It is amazing to me that Southern Baptists today, who fought valiantly for the inerrancy of Scripture just decades ago, are now replacing that same Scripture with a myriad of other things in the pulpit. It's been a subtle shift; so subtle that the man in the pew may not have noticed. It started with attention grabbing illustrations, which I admit are helpful when properly (and not overly) used. The normal pattern, though, moves on from illustrations to full-blown stories, jokes and bad analogies. Oh, and don't forget the poem. As things have progressed pastors feel more and more pressure to have creative sermons complete with graphic art, object lessons and even movie clips to help make their point. This has had a most damaging, even destructive, effect on preaching.
Preaching is not by nature a creative exercise. Therefore, men of God who are called to preach need not be creative. However, this fast growing expectation for creative sermons coupled with pastors who have little creativity has spawned a market that the average man in the pew may not know is even out there--the sermon market. Rather than spending hours in the study mining the Scriptures for its timeless truths, pastors are spending hours on the internet searching for the next great series that might draw a crowd. You know, the one that has the most aesthetically pleasing art work for websites, mailers and powerpoint.
At best, this is mordern day simony. In Acts 8:14-24 a man named Simon offers the Apostles money hoping to receive from them the power to grant the Holy Spirit. From that episode we derive the word 'simony'. Basically, it is the practice of attempting to buy and sell the power of the Holy Spirit. Today's buying and selling of sermons is just that at best. I mean, most sermons and sermon series are being offered for sell and sought after for purchase, I would assume, because the buyer perceives them to be effective. But we know that any Godly effect a sermon has is due to the Holy Spirit accompanying the Word with power. If the preacher making the purchase also understands this, then he is attempting to buy the power of the Spirit; that's simony, and Peter said of the original Simon, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right with God" (Acts 8:20-21).
There are many online outlets for such sermons. Some are professionally packaged with all the art work and mailers and others are just outlines and manuscripts, and the prices range from free to $1200 per series. Don't believe me? Here's just three such examples:
But what about us Southern Baptists who hold so dearly to the inerrancy of the Scriptures? Well, it seems that many Southern Baptist pastors are abandoning their love of the Word and their studies and are turning to prepackaged sermons, too. What's worse is that Southern Baptist institutions are recognizing this and instead of discouraging it, they are aiding it and participating in it. Here's just two examples:
So, as I continue to ask the Lord to clarify in me a vision for action that would be God honoring, Christ centered, humble minded, gently administered and graciously effective in restoring the Word to its proper place in preaching among those whom I may be able to influence, I plan to occasionally post articles like this one for the man in the pew.
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