Category Archives: audience analysis

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Can you tell the difference between sheep and goats? Does it matter on Sundays?

I trust you experienced a rewarding Easter celebration with your faith-family. I know Michele and I did.

You may recall earlier posts containing excerpts from Marsden’s, An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the Twenty-First Century. It’s amazing how current Edwards’s approach is even though his 18th century context and style of ministry is so different from ours.

One lasting effect of Edwards’s thinking and writing is his well-known, “A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections.” I first read it as part of my required reading in the mid- to late 80’s when I studied the church in America at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Marsden writes, “Edwards spent almost his whole life wrestling with the question of how to tell the difference between authentic Christian experience and its imitations: self-delusion and hypocrisy” (p. 104). He describes Edwards’s understanding of “affections” as,

“the sort of love for a person that brings joy unspeakable. True affections for Edwards include the joy and delight–at the heart of his theology–of experiencing the beauty of perfect love” (p. 106).

Okay, let me stop and say that my ministry for over 30 years has been in the context of two, Bible Church kind of churches. I half-jokingly say to our folks, “We’re a Bible Church which means we don’t feel anything.” It’s true; we don’t feel much and rarely do we let it show on our faces on a given Sunday morning. So, this makes it difficult to know if my listeners are experiencing authentic Christianity.

Edwards asked how we know the sheep from the goats.

He begins with indicators that don’t prove anything:

“high emotional experiences, preoccupation with religious things, readiness to quote Scripture, great self-confidence in one’s own spirituality, and other traits that can be found among hypocrites as well as among some genuine Christians” (p. 107).

As you can see, counterfeit Christianity exists. But Scriptures often provide ample opportunity for us to challenge the kind of faith our listeners have. One way is to continually ask if their faith-journey includes a dose of “joy and delight” and the “beauty of [God’s] perfect love.”

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we address both sheep and goats each Sunday.

Randal

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Assisting our “Silent Learners”: Augustine on Preaching

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Some of Our Listeners may Be Silent, but They Are Thinking.

I wrote recently that I finally read Augustine’s classic little paperback, On Christian Doctrine (translated by Robertson). Augustine provides a look at one challenge of the traditional, monologue sermon. He instructs his students,

“In a conversation anyone may ask questions. But where all are silent that one may be heard and all are intent upon him, it is neither customary nor proper that anyone inquire about what he does not understand. For this reason the teacher should be especially careful to assist the silent learner. [emphasis added]” (p. 134)

You can see that, in Augustine’s day, preachers didn’t engage in dialogue with their listeners. In his era, all were “silent that one may be heard and all are intent upon him.” Probably your preaching resembles that too. You preach and your parishioners listen without asking questions about what they don’t understand.

Here are some things to think about as you develop this week’s sermon(s) that will help you “to assist the silent learner”:

  1. As you study your preaching portion, make a list of all the questions you have of this text.
  2. Try to anticipate the kinds of questions that someone who has not studied as much as you might ask of that text.
  3. Try also to anticipate the disagreements they may have with you as you preach. One homiletician called these push-backs, contrapuntals (I knew you’d like that word!).
  4. During the sermon, ask your listeners questions in such a way that they know you expect them to answer. Even if you don’t expect them or necessarily want them to answer, still ask a question sincerely to help them think with you. I say that because, through the years, I’ve seen more than one preaching ask their congregants a question in such a way they knew he really didn’t expect an answer.

Our typical monologue-method on Sunday mornings presents some real problems for communicating biblical truth. Through the years I’ve found a conversational style to be more effective than the one-way method. Most of my listeners are used to monologue sermons, but appreciate the conversation.

If you find that you fit into Augustine’s mode of preaching, may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you carefully assist your silent learners.

Randal

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How the Condition of your Listeners and Christ-Centered Preaching Affect the Mood of Judgment Texts

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The Mood of the Sermon Matches the Mood of the Scripture, except when…

This past Sunday I had the privilege of preaching through Matthew 11:20-24. It is a judgment text with no good news in it. Speaking to two cities that saw Jesus do “mighty works,” He states that

“it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you” (v. 22).

And then Jesus says to the third city: “You will be brought down to Hades” (v. 23) and “I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

A most depressing segment of Matthew’s Gospel, to be sure. The mood of such Scripture is somber to say the least and the mood of the sermon should match this. And it does for much of the exposition.

However, two things alter that mood.

First, the condition of my listeners meant that there is cause for celebration. Many of my listeners could offer thanks to God for the fact that they had done what the three cities and their inhabitants didn’t do. Many of them–probably most of them–had repented at some point when they heard the Gospel.

Second, the fact that Christ is our Judge means that we can be comforted by the thought of the “day of judgment.” I was able to say to our congregants:

“Your Judge was judged for our sin so that He could one day be our Judge at the Judgment. Just think that your Judge will be your Redeemer, the One who gave His life for you! Imagine how He will rule your case!”

Again, what is, by and large, a most somber, judgment text now contains an element of celebration when we consider the results of God judging His Son on the cross for sinners. No more fear of judgment day. Only praise for the righteousness of Christ credited to our account!

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you consider how the Gospel affects the mood of even judgment texts.

Randal

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Why Jonathan Edwards Was So Concerned About Identifying Genuine Faith and Why We Should Too

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“Edwards…offers every sort of professing Christian some important guidelines for assessing the authenticity of faith.” (Marsden, p. 103)

If you have read some of my earlier material you know I learn a lot from the preaching of Jonathan Edwards. It’s because he thinks at a level I never will. But it’s also because, despite hundreds of years separating us, our ministry contexts are similar.

Marsden makes this clear in, An Infinite Fountain of Light, and the chapter, Edwards and the Churches That Whitefield Built.

That shared context began with the likes of George Whitefield. Marsden reminds us, “The evangelists who succeed best are those who can attract the largest audiences. Think Billy Graham, for instance. This, plus the “populist-based versions” (p. 99) of the Gospel meant that churches were attended by those who professed faith in Christ, but who may not be genuinely saved.

Marsden writes, “Edwards spent almost his whole life wrestling with the question of how to tell the difference between authentic Christian experience and its imitations: self-delusion and hypocrisy.” (p. 104)

[If you haven’t read it, you might consider Edwards’s, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections.]

I will go further in to this next time, but for now I wanted to ask you to consider your ministry context.

One of the scariest things I heard as a young pastor-in-training was something Chuck Swindoll said about his ministry in Fullerton, CA. I will never forget him saying that the longer he pastored, the more he believed that less and less of his people were saved.

It’s probably a good idea for you and me to keep this in mind as we preach and teach God’s Word. You may have noticed how much Scripture challenges the reader to make their calling and election sure (to quote from one place). One of my personal goals is to preach in such a way that there are no surprises at the Judgment for my faith-family.

May our Lord received glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you follow Edwards’s example of making sure your listeners know that their faith is genuine.

Randal

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Current Preaching Challenges from our 18th Century Brothers

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The 18th Century Gave Us Edwards, but Some Troubles Too!

One of the unexpected takeaways from Marsden’s, An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the Twenty-First Century, is to learn some of the traits or tendencies in 18th century evangelicalism that affects our pastoral ministry and preaching.

The first two are big ones:

(1) “distrust of established institutional authority and

(2) increasing trust in individual experience.” (p. 82)

You and I continue to preach in this context. It’s an uphill, yet winnable situation as God gives ears to hear. Part of making it winnable is you and I being aware of these tendencies and being able to address them when appropriate in our preaching portions.

An interesting factoid is that George Whitefield and John Wesley contributed to this! Marsden writes, “Both were ordained Anglicans, but each effectively ignored most formal church authority” (p. 83).

Marsden goes on to add other tendencies that continue to plague us:

“to favor strong, inspiring, individual leadership over institutional tradition [later Marsden called it, “the rise of celebrity culture”, p. 89], to divide over differing doctrines and practices, and to grow through splitting” (p. 83).

The first tendency is something that we and our leadership must keep in mind. We do need to lead from the pulpit and part of that leadership involves championing the local church.

The second tendency requires an all-out effort “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). We need wisdom to proclaim doctrine humbly and to shut down unbiblical divisiveness.

What scared me the most through those pages was thinking of how great preachers like W&W can contribute to negative elements in the church. God help us!

I find it helpful to have this kind of information in my mind as I think about the challenges of preaching. May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you minister in this context which began in the 18th century.

Randal

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The Attitudes that Affect the Way We Respond to God’s Word

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Things that get in the way of applying life to the Bible

In my last post I began summarizing some of the things I’m learning from Marsden’s, An Infinite Fountain of Light. In the book he highlights a number of ways in which Jonathan Edwards is relevant for our day. Much of Edwards’s enduring value stems from the similarities between our listeners and those in the eighteenth century.

Here are some excerpts that help us know what is in the air we breathe:

“the autonomous individual is the fundamental unity of society” (p. 33). Which explains why it is very difficult to get a local church to think about community or to even think that the church is important enough to commit to.

“the God within” (p. 33). Virtually everyone in our society has been trained to think that listening to their own voice or following their own heart is the way to success. Each weekend you and I give them another word, a Word from God that is outside of themselves.

“the privatization of meaning” (p. 33). This is a spinoff from the one above. People in our day are ditching parents or a close knit group of neighbors or spiritual community and opting to discover their own meaning. Again, on Sundays we confront them with God’s Word and His meaning, but it’s not easy because deep down they believe they are the final authority on meaning.

That’s only three of them, but they are big ones that we face. What’s fascinating is to read how all this started with someone like Benjamin Franklin (remember, he and Edwards are contemporaries). Marsden points out one huge difference between their society and ours: they believed that there was some kind of transcendent basis for their values; our society does not.

This kind of analysis reminds me that when I am preaching, listeners are hearing God’s Word in the context of their cultural values. These attitudes always affect the way people interact with God’s revelation. As you head into this Christmas week and prepare to teach and preach on Christmas Eve, keep this in mind. See if your Scripture speaks directly to these attitudes and may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Learning 21st Century Characteristics From 18th Century, Jonathan Edwards?!? Who Knew?!?

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A Look at What’s in the Heart of all of Us

Over my recent vacation I was able to order a few new books and finished George Marsden’s, An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the Twenty-First Century. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you know how much I love reading Edwards. Marsden’s book offers something unique: a look at the abiding influence of Edwards because of how similar today’s mindset is to Edwards’s. I didn’t expect that. I certainly didn’t expect that the similarity is due to the influence of Ben Franklin’s thinking.

I read this kind of material to continue learning about the kinds of listeners I preach to (and the kind of man I am). When we preach God’s Word, what kinds of influences affect the way we fight for faith and righteousness?

How about this list?

  • ever-increasing technology
  • aggressive market capitalism
  • celebration of self
  • trying to balance liberty and equality
  • materialism
  • permissive sensuality
  • nationalism

Sound familiar?

If you enjoy history, you’ll appreciate Marsden’s work on Edwards and Franklin. If you enjoy thinking about preaching to your listeners, you’ll benefit from keeping these cultural characteristics in mind. They influence all of us; they’re in the air we breathe. And Marsden suggests that all of this 18th century “semi-Christian or cultural Protestant” outlook continues today.

If he’s correct, this means that many of our listeners each Sunday believe in God but are most concerned with their own personal flourishing.

And if you have teenagers in your church, here’s their “most typical religious outlook…even those who had been reared in traditionalist Christian churches… ‘moralistic therapeutic deism.’ They tended to believe that there was a benevolent , mostly distant God who wanted people to be good and who might be called on in times of sickness or crisis for help and comfort. At the same time they believed in developing one’s now self-identity.” (p. 26, Marsden quoting Christian Smith’s, Soul Searching: The Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers)

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you and I continue to exegete our listeners while expositing sacred Scripture.

Randal

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“Beyond Words to the Heart”: Guest Post by Dr. Ron Gannett

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A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting up with Dr. Ron Gannett. I met him back in the early 90’s when I was pastoring in New Brunswick, Canada. Ron was our keynote speaker for a special conference. Back then he was the Senior Pastor of Park Bible Church in Burlington, ON, Canada. As I young pastor, I remember learning so much from him. So, I was delighted when he contacted me about being in the area (we’re both DTS alumni).

I asked Ron if he would write a guest post for me and here it is. Enjoy!

“Beyond Words to the Heart

I recently attended a funeral where most of the family members, as expected, read their prepared memories about their lost loved one. But, when the pastor did the same by reading his sermon from a manuscript, it communicated to us that it was more about what he was saying than what we were feeling or needing at that moment. As he missed this strategic opportunity to speak from the heart, it reminded me that it is not about what I am saying, but what they are hearing.

Of course, manuscripts are helpful, and I often use bullet points written in my Bible to keep me focused. The issue I am addressing is whether we are too concerned about our presentation at the expense of the listener. Am I trying to give them the whole wheelbarrow of information I learned or equipping them to respond to God’s Word?

When I first started teaching at a Bible College just out of seminary, my dean required that I write my course objectives around three simple directives: what do I want my students to know, feel and do after taking this course. That stretching exercise has shaped my teaching and preaching to this day. It structured the course around the student’s needs, not me.

I have discovered through the years that these three objectives add fulness to the sermon. Sadly, content alone may glorify the preacher or make the listener feel inadequate. But truth that is clear and memorable, encouraging and motives the heart and provides tools and resources for the listener to practice will help produce the spiritual formation we crave for our people.

If you think about it, all three are essential since the emphasis on one without the others will only lead to unhealthy spirituality. So, lets proclaim the glory and grace of God to help hearts know, love and follow Him.”

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Are You Achieving this Balance in Your Preaching?

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How to challenge hypocrites without unduly stressing out the saints!

I’m not quite finished with Bavinck’s one volume theology, but couldn’t help starting to read, Theoretical-Practical Theology, written by Petrus Van Mastricht in the late 17th century. I was excited to read it because he wrote the theology book to train pastors. For instance, it contains a wonderful first section, The Best Method of Preaching. What a way to begin a systematic theology book!

In it, Mastricht speaks to a subject matter that may be difficult to do in some churches because of their goals. However, it is impossible to avoid if a pastor is committed to preaching through books of the Bible.

That subject matter is challenging the saints to make sure their lifestyle matches their profession of faith. In other words, the Scriptures regularly urge the saints in church to a faith that expresses itself in required virtues.

Of course, this kind of preaching will create some angst in those who know they are saved. So Mastricht writes,

“…from one perspective, we would not without cause lead the consciences of the pious into doubts and anxieties from which afterward we could not so easily lead them out; from another perspective, so that we would not also strengthen hypocrites and harden them in their carnal security” (vol. 1, p. 23).

That’s the tension that can be created in preaching the Word of God to both kinds of listeners. It’s the kind of preaching that some preaching portions demand.

When the Text demands it, may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) because of your faithfulness in not strengthening the hypocrites without pricking the consciences of the saints without cause.

Randal

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How What Evangelicals Currently Believe Affects Our Preaching

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The current State of Theology helps us know the doctrines in danger.

In preparing for some new disciple-making initiatives in the coming year, a colleague of mine at church and I have been collecting some data on what Evangelicals believe. In the process of skimming some of the findings, I realized how important this data can be for our preaching.

[For years, I have watched the survey results reveal a slow, but steady movement away from orthodox beliefs. This has caused me to see at least part of my preaching ministry as an attempt to keep my listeners from losing important aspects of the Christian faith.]

If you’re interested, I suggest you look at what Ligonier and Lifeway present about the State of Theology (thestateoftheology.com).

What you will find is that Evangelicals are moving away from traditional beliefs about Christology, including things as foundational as whether or not Jesus was created by God.

When I presented some the findings to our Wednesday night crowd, two folks quickly replied: “Well, I wonder how the survey defined ‘Evangelical’?” That’s a very common Fundamentalist reaction. My reply was that it doesn’t matter. Even if the word wasn’t defined as tightly as some of us might want, the stats still show that some of our parishioners might be experiencing a similar shift.

If you’ve used such info before, then you know that the survey answers help us know what doctrines we need to highlight in our preaching. For instance, in one recent survey I saw, three of the five questions/answers involved the Person and work of Christ.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we accurately preach Christ as God portrays Him in His Word.

Randal