So the perils of another presidential election year are hard upon us, and preachers everywhere have hell to pay for the views we express from the pulpit. It doesn't matter what your flavor of politics is, if you're a preacher who makes weekly sermons part of your practices, you can't escape. Someone is always after you for "your views" on whatever current social issues exist--climate change, same sex marriage, transgender rights, gun safety legislation, abortion, death penalty, not to mention a political candidate or two--while at the same time, reserving the right to excoriate you for whatever you happen to express.
I can't deny it. It's flattering to think that anyone cares, but I'm beginning to realize that "my views" are not what's at stake in sermon delivery. I am happy to give someone "my views" on current social issues, but not usually from the pulpit.
There are a couple of reasons for this. First, is my understanding of the task of preaching. Offering your own words as "A Word from the Lord" is a humbling and awesome responsibility. The current state of world affairs is an amazingly fleeting state in the face of a cosmic-sized God. Anything I could say about/to/on behalf of such a God to the world is nearly impossible. In the apophatic tradition, I would better off saying nothing than to presume human words. And yet, it's something I must attempt, and something that all preachers in the prophetic sling must do, with care and humility. So every once in a while, it's called for. "God says...(thus and so)" Are we there yet? Maybe we're close, but I also realize that it's hubris to think that our own current times are so unique that no one in human history has ever faced such challenges. It's a kind of temporal narcissism. So I'm biding my time.
Secondly, I perceive my real calling, not to shape other people's thinking directly, but to show them that following the Jesus way is the way to live and the real way to the abundant life, in the way that God intends for human life. Jesus wanted to up-end the status quo, not by advocating for the overthrow of Rome, but by actually living and then dying, for a still more excellent way. I'm more interested in seeing people grow in spiritual maturity than I am in seeing them adopt a particular attitude vis-a-vis a current social issue. I'm an advocate for answering a behavior question--what should we do/believe/think in this situation?--with the moral reasoning of someone who is maturing in love. It's not exactly "what would Jesus do?" but it's close. Am I naive in assuming that growing in faith will lead one into faithful, and thereby God-like choices in life? Maybe so, but for me, it's the job of preaching to proclaim the good news and invite people to make it real in their own lives, and then encourage them to find a still more excellent way.
My wife’s the reason anything gets done
