What is trending from the pulpit? Here are three current indications that might inform your preaching.
1. Charismatic leadership wanes; transformational leadership waxes.
John Chandler
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By “charismatic,” I don’t mean Pentecostal theology, but charisma-fueled ability to captivate large groups. In a celebrity-driven culture, there is no shortage of cult-of-personality worship of preachers who write books, dazzle at conferences and show up on television. But another kind of leader has always existed and will emerge, albeit relatively quietly. Transformational leadership and preaching is based on the ability to articulate collective vision. As Sam Rainer puts it, “Transformational leaders inspire people to reach for a common goal. They develop, train and mentor future talent. They empower people to accomplish tasks. Creativity, transparency and authenticity are valued. Leaders and followers alike know what the goal is and how to achieve it. These leaders show everyone the big picture and why it’s important. The next 10 years will bring a fresh focus on local pastors leading local churches to become focused on a local mission. (T)ransformational leadership will become more popular in the coming decade.”
2. Deep teaching gets more popular.
Particularly among congregations that seriously engage with Scripture, many growing churches will get deeper theologically and are insisting on more profound teaching about the Bible. Sociologist Christian Smith and others indicate that many young adult dropouts left the church because it demanded too little. They desire deeper teaching. Churches that challenge people to greater biblical depths will proliferate while shallow churches will increasingly languish.
3. And sermons get longer but …
… congregations wish they were shorter. The pulpit is not the only place to increase deep teaching. In fact, interactive and participatory forums are best for such teaching. Some pastors overestimate their ability to captivate shrinking attention spans and preach longer than folk are listening.
Bob Russell taught a good rule of thumb for sermon length. First, rate yourself from 1-10, with 10 being the best preacher you ever heard, 9 being the best in your denomination, 8 as best in your city and so forth. Then subtract two from your self-rating (ouch!), and multiply that number times five minutes—and don’t preach longer than that. Or as Thomas Long used to say, “Make sure you end before your sermon does.”
No one said preaching was easy!
Trending is written by John Chandler, leader of the Spence Network, www.spencenetwork.equip.htm.