From The Mouths of Babes...Literally!

One of our college staff sent me the following link today, which I found interesting but disturbing:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=3717627

While I am sure that I do not agree with all of the theology of the Episcopal priest cited in the article and on the video, I do agree with him that the idea of 7-year-old children preaching to a congregation of adults is inappropriate and offensive. Here are the problems with it:

1. Preaching is not merely about words emanating from one person's mouth to another person's ears. Instead, it is a form of spiritual leadership, ideally exercised by those who have the biblical qualifications to lead (see 1 Timothy 3). That is why most evangelicals agree that a person living in open sexual sin should not be allowed to take the pulpit; the maturity and faithfulness of the preacher matter. A child does not have the life experience or maturity to begin to shepherd a group of adults, facing temptations and difficulties that the child cannot possibly understand. How can a person preach on the value of purity without even understanding "how babies are made"? How can a person speak about faithful financial stewardship when the most he has managed is his weekly allowance of $5 from mom and dad? The concept is ridiculous, of course. To me this is further evidence that we live in a time in which entertainment value is more important than substance.

2. Proper theology is incredibly significant in the task of preaching. There are abstract concepts involved that most young children are unable to understand. It is not that a child is unable to grasp the basics of the Gospel; on the contrary, he or she can certainly understand salvation, even enough to share it with a close friend or relative. The problem is understanding enough of the intricacies of it to be the teacher of an entire congregation, some of whom have been studying the Scripture for years (hopefully). Heresy often creeps into a church via well-intended individuals who are simply ill-equipped to interpret the Scripture due to poor training, personal bias, fuzzy thinking, and a variety of other factors. All of these factors are greater risks for unproven children, who have not had the time and do not have the intellectual ability (yet) to coherently examine the issues.

There is certainly a fine line here between what is appropriate and what is absurd. Children can certainly share the Gospel, and I believe at times their experiences and insights can be extremely helpful in the local church. They are not worthless, nor are they less valuable in God's eyes than adults are.

The issue to me is primarily one of authority; when there is no mature authority responsible for testing, shaping, and controlling what they say in public under the guise of spiritual leadership, we have a major problem. When children are exalted to the place of congregational head, over the adults in the church, we have a major problem. When parents are willingly submitting to the authority of the child, rather than the other way around, we have a problem.

All of this begs the question for me: Was the child asked to preach because of his perceived maturity or because of the lack of mature leaders in the congregation? In other words, was there nobody else qualified and willing to wear the mantle of leadership?

Scary.

What are your thoughts? Feel free to post if you disagree with me, or even if you agree!

Preaching and the Spirit

One of my duties as the college pastor is to prepare and deliver weekly sermons for our college students. It is one of the most enjoyable parts of my job, but also one of the most difficult at times.

I have always felt that preparing a good sermon is a bit of a moving target. You might plan and pray a great deal and be very enthusiastic about your passage and yet still have the sermon fall flat. On the other hand, you might have a crazy week, with very little time to prepare, yet you finish the sermon with the certainty that the Spirit has spoken despite your failure (or perhaps because of it).

I was encouraged recently, upon reading a biography of Martin Luther, to run across a great quote about preaching that expressed well my feelings. In speaking to a young pastor who was discouraged about his sermons, which were often too short, and who expressed the opinion that he would be better off in his former profession (a familiar line of thought to those in vocational ministry), Luther said the following:

"Do your best. If you cannot preach an hour, then preach half an hour or a quarter of an hour. Do not try to imitate other people. Center on the shortest and simplest points, which are the very heart of the matter, and leave the rest to God. Look solely to his honor and not to applause. Pray that God will give you a mouth and to your audience ears. I can tell you preaching is not a work of man. Although I am old and experienced, I am afraid every time I have to preach. You will most certainly find out three things: first, you will have prepared your sermon as diligently as you know how, and it will slip through you fingers like water: second, you may abandon your outline and God will give you grace. You will preach your very best. The audience will be pleased, but you won't. And thirdly, when you have been unable in advance to pull anything together, you will preach acceptably both to your hearers and to yourself. So pray to God and leave all the rest to Him."

I certainly can't argue with that...what a great reminder of who is truly in control of the preaching process.

(By the way, that quote is from an excellent biography of Luther entitled Here I Stand by Roland Bainton. I highly recommend it if you have any interest in the subject.)

Otherwise Occupied

Well, it's been quite a while since I last blogged. Why, you ask? I have been otherwise occupied. Every ounce of my creative and intellectual energy (above and beyond what I spend with my family) has been invested in starting the school year with the college ministry.

If you are interested, here is a brief rundown of the year so far:

-August 6-8: Training for new college interns. We added three new interns this year, in addition to the four who stayed from last year.

-August 11: I performed a wedding.

-August 13-15: College staff retreat. All of our interns and permanent staff with the college ministry spend time getting to know one another and preparing for the school year.

-August 17: Shannon and I spoke at a Christian camp for incoming freshmen.

-August 18: Another wedding.

-August 23-25: College leaders' training. Our student leaders gather for fellowship and training and preparation for the coming year.

-August 26: First college Sunday school class of the semester.

-September 2: "Howdy Party," a chance for our new students to learn about our college ministry and sign up for small groups.

-September 4: First college small group meeting for the semester.

-September 7: Elizabeth's (my daughter) birthday.

-September 11: My mom's birthday.

-September 30: Shannon's birthday.

As you can see, things move full-speed ahead from August through the early part of October. I actually love this time of year. Students are beginning a brand new year, full of brand new hopes. For freshmen, they are looking forward to four to six (hopefully) significant and thoroughly enjoyable years. For seniors, they are preparing to move on with their lives and service to the Lord. For those in between, it's another chance to do well, to walk with the Lord, to study hard, and to make good friends. No other time of the year is so full of excitement, enthusiasm, promise, and joy.

And busyness too...I'm pretty tired. But, as they say, it's a "good" tired.