Beware the Hot Air #preaching (@richardlittleda)

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Yesterday morning I read and savoured Kate’s post on preaching. I am right there with her in wanting to. “Bring on the slaying” of the already moribund sermon. I have even offered to preside at its funeral. Of particular concern to me are those sermons which purport to be Biblical but are not. They fail to breathe its breath or echo its heartbeat.

Butterfly preaching.  Flits from text to text, never lingering long enough to smell its scent nor feel its pulsating resonance.

Polo preaching. Like the mint, it has a hole in it! The outside is coated with biblical flavour, but there is no biblical core of any kind.

Patchwork preaching. Anecdotes and biblical allusions are attached together in a random fashion. The result just about covers the preacher’s modesty, but brings no biblical understanding.

Carpet bombing. The preacher drones to and fro over their subject, dropping texts on it to bomb it into submission. Liable to leave smoking ruins behind.

Rocket preaching. Blasts off from a single Biblical text, but then leaves it far behind, like the landscape falling away from a Command Module window. Leaves scorch marks.

Will you join me in outlawing these sermons – even if they are preached in your own pulpit?

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