Alive to the Word. Stephen I. Wright

A preacher is profoundly mistaken and arrogant to assume general ignorance on the part of hearers. Many of them, while not being theologically trained, will be immersed in areas of life and learning – often practical, but sometimes academic too – of which the preacher is all but totally ignorant himself or herself. These areas may have considerable bearing on the theological thinking of those concerned even if they do not articulate it. Moreover, they must surely have a vital contribution – if somehow it can be tapped – to the developing theological reflection of the congregation in question, as they continue to wrestle with the application of the gospel to life.

      Preachers and congregations should also take account of the more subtle ways in which shared theological attitudes and views are being shaped. The structures, symbols and words of worship are very influential on the reception of the sermon, as we noted above. However, they are also extremely influential on the entire theological mindset of the congregation. What a congregation does in worship week by week, and perhaps especially what it sings, forms its thinking about God and his relationship with his world in almost frighteningly powerful ways. In addition, churches today are no longer so purely ‘local’. Many Christians are regular attenders at conferences and festivals, regular readers of online Christian material or printed notes, regular receivers of Christian magazines, regular listeners to Christian radio stations, and so on. What is said and done in these various forums may be far more penetrating of people’s perspectives than the preacher’s words. It may hold far greater sway over how, in practice, congregations interpret the Bible and construct a theology that appears to be both faithful and applicable.

The need for an awareness of such influences on congregational thinking is brought into sharp relief when it is realized that sometimes the messages given by the preacher are in conflict, maybe unwittingly so, with the messages being received openly or subliminally from elsewhere. For example, a preacher may want to draw people’s attention to Paul’s theology of power through weakness, yet the songs the congregation most loves to sing may all emphasize the power rather than the weakness. A preacher may want to give the congregation permission to lament as the Psalmist did, but some in the congregation may have been schooled (in deeper than conscious ways) in the idea that encounter with God must be celebratory and joyful or else it is not genuine. A preacher may have been influenced (say) by reformed theology or catholic spirituality, whereas the congregation might be (say) more ‘liberal’ or more ‘charismatic’ – something which can come out in tensions between the discussions in home groups and what is preached on Sundays.[22]

Unless we reckon as honestly as we can with this diversity and complexity of influences, we will not be in a position to discuss the important normative and practical questions of ‘whether’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ which we shall approach in Parts 3 and 4 of the book – whether we are thinking of preaching in general, or the preaching ministry of a church in general or particular sermons. Yet even to attempt an examination of such influences runs the risk of falling into two traps. On the one side, the preacher may regard such an exercise as an attempt to expose the ‘inadequate’ theologies the congregation is imbibing from various quarters, as a prelude to being able to ‘correct’ them with more insight. This would be foolish, given – as we have seen – that the preacher’s store of ‘truth’ is, in its way, as partial and haphazardly garnered as anyone else’s. On the other side, the preacher may be in danger of losing confidence altogether in the calling and formation they have received. To say that the congregation is a mediator of truth as well as the preacher does not mean that the preacher has nothing distinctive and vital to contribute.[23]

      Pastoral care

The final arena within which preaching has an important function is that of pastoral care.[24] Most preachers are also pastors of those to whom they preach, whether as a sole minister or as part of a team; whether ‘full-time’ or ‘part-time’.

      Whether or not the preacher has an official pastoral role among a specific congregation, the presence or absence of pastoral concern in preaching, and consistency or otherwise between pastoral care and what is preached and how it is preached, will make themselves felt. Beyond anything to do with sermon content or method, hearers can sense whether the preacher cares. They feel instinctively (if not always articulately) whether what is being offered them is nourishing and nurturing (even if they cannot take the full meal on that occasion), or whether it is vacuous, tasteless or downright poisonous. And whatever the preacher’s role – regular pastor, ‘lay preacher’, visitor – their attitude to their hearers will show.

      To identify the preaching encounter as a ‘pastoral’ one does not imply anything about the hearers with respect to their prior commitment, allegiance or church membership; it encompasses ‘evangelistic’ preaching as much as ‘teaching’. Whatever kind of spiritual life our hearers have or do not have, we are their pastors inasmuch as we co-operate, or not, with the desire of Father, Son and Spirit to bring fullness of life to all.

      The pastor who preaches to his or her congregation most weeks in the year is not just engaged in the delivery of necessary information to an anonymous group (like the radio or TV news presenter), nor the regular performance of scripts to equally anonymous groups (like an actor). He or she is in a peculiar and privileged relationship to these people, and preaching is neither an interruption to this relationship nor the main driver of it. It is an integral part of it.

      Again, we must recognize this as a fact before we begin to talk about ‘what’ and ‘how’ we preach. Whatever we as preachers may think we are doing – if, for instance, we imagine that we can get away with a distinctly non-pastoral tirade on Sunday morning and resume normal church meetings on Monday evening or pastoral visits on Tuesday afternoon – we will soon find out that the congregation thinks differently. There is a relationship there, and preaching holds out the possibilities of either deepening it or damaging it.

      Yet the relationship is not an ordinary one, but is inevitably bound up with the preacher’s role. Across the spectrum of theologies of ministry, there is common ground in the recognition that where there are ministers, they are set apart by the Church under, it believes, the guidance and inspiration of God, for guiding his flock. Not only the preacher’s compassion and motivation, therefore, are at stake, and his or her sensitivity to the fact of pastoral relationship, but the fittingness of the way in which he or she exercises the entire pastoral role. Thus a preacher may avoid the danger mentioned above of real damage to the relationship, yet still court weakening the preaching event if it is not seen in a healthy balance with other elements of the ministerial calling. Others apart from the preacher will, one hopes, share in the pastoral care of a congregation; but a preacher who preaches about care yet appears to give little time to caring, or to leave it all to others, risks damaging the pastoral relationship in perhaps a less immediate, but more long-term way than the one who offloads grudges or hostility in a single sermon. The same is equally true, conversely, of those who spend large amounts of time on personal pastoral caring but insufficient time reflecting how most helpfully to advance the pastoral cause in preaching. No minister should be thought of – or think of themselves – as omnicompetent, but there are central ministerial tasks which rightly require to be held in proper balance.

An aspect of exercising a pastoral function through preaching is leadership. The relationship between preaching and leadership is a delicate one.[25] The tasks of preacher, pastor and leader come together in the calling to build Christian community based on the word of God.[26] On the one hand, a pastor who preaches is de facto exercising leadership. He or she is acting at the very least as a guide to those hearing. And the preacher who is sensitive both to the revelation of God and to the needs of the people will rightly seek a sense of how God may be wanting to lead the people on in their specific circumstances and their Christian community life. On the other hand, when preaching is understood purely as a function of leadership, the Godward dimension is easily lost (even if God-language is used). Preaching as an event which