Moments ago I read John Piper's blog and I was struck by what he said. He basically says that its possible to be so eloquent as a speaker that people don't care what you say- they will like it no matter what the subject matter. He points to an example from the life of George Whitefield, one of our country's most gifted/successful preachers in American history. The last paragraph hit me square in the mouth- like a sucker-punch from Mister T- I am a product of what he is talking about. We pick up on his blog:
"In the spring of 1740 Whitefield was in Philadelphia preaching outdoors to thousands. Benjamin Franklin attended most of these messages. Franklin, who did not believe what Whitefield was preaching, commented on these perfected sermons:
'His delivery...was so improved by frequent repetition, that every accent, every emphasis, every modulation of voice, was so perfectly well turned, and well placed, that without being interested in the subject, one could not help being pleased with the discourse: a pleasure of much the same kind with that received from an excellent piece of music.' (Harry Stout, The Divine Dramatist, 104)
Here was preaching that was so well-delivered you could like it enough to ignore it's convicting truths. What should I say about this? More: What should I do about it? Paul said,
'Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.... My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1Corinthians 1:17; 2:4-5)'
Was Whitefield right to perfect his delivery to the point where unbelieving Benjamin Franklin would enjoy it like a piece of music?
Pray for me. This is not an academic issue for a preacher.
P. S. Lest the generation of younger preachers who don't give a fig for eloquence think they have this one solved, beware. There is an "eloquence" of "hip" and "dress" and "slang" and "savvy" and "casual" and the "appearance of artlessness" that can have the exact same mesmerizing effect in our day that Whitefield's eloquence had in his: People like it without sharing any of the convictions."
This gives me a lot to think about. Pray for me too.- Kyle
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
Like anything in life there has to be a balance. I once heard a Young Life leader say it is a sin to bore people with the Gospel. I think that today it is easy to fall into the trap of entertaining people and never speaking the hard truths of the Bible. I think a great balance needs to be found. If God can use a donkey to speak his truth then God can speak through anyone, but think about it...God used a donkey. My point is that we should use any means we can to reach people for Christ...as long as we balance that with the truths of scripture. It is a cop out to not become a better speaker because when the Bible is taught it does not come back void. If we are afraid to talk about hard topics the Bible teaches then we have sold out for entertainment. It sounds like Whitefield balanced this well. He was polished but he spoke the hard truths of scripture. If we bore people with the hard topics of the Bible then they won't listen to what we are saying. I don't think this is an either or I think it is a mixture of both.
Post a Comment