Choosing to Preach Discussion
#2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?
Posted by Kent Anderson on August 26, 2006 19:02
Is a warlike approach to preaching ever appropriate? Are there some people who can be won only by overpowering them? Are there some times when confrontation is the only way of breaking through?
(from page 26)
Replies
re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?
Posted by George Bedlion on Nov. 07, 2007 at 16:44
There is something gritty, something tough about preachers who preach God’s word. This type of preacher is difficult to define, hard to create comprehensive descriptions of but you know him or her when you hear their words. I think there is a time to be gracious and tender as a teacher yet also a time to be confrontational, willing to battle in a loving way…. These types of preachers bring a gracious arsenal of holy confrontation and patience that, if called for, should be engaged. It reminds me of Jacob wrestling with the Angel of God all night until Jacob’s strength was spent and his hip out of place. Jacob wrestled, he strove with God all night for his blessing. And the Angel obliged, wrestling him until the only way to get Jacob to stop aside from killing Jacob was to injure him. He later became known as Israel, the one who strives with God. This seems warlike to me. Ecclesiastes says there is a time for war and a time for peace. The problem for preachers is knowing when to be on the offensive to confront and teach or when to be more passive, quiet, and tender.
re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?
Posted by Mike Keigley on Sep. 25, 2007 at 15:21
The prophets of the OT rarely shirked from their heavy messages. Jesus confronted those he loved and the Christian church was founded on the blood of the martyrs who believed that the message was greater than their own lives. Preachers should be sensitive to what God is saying to the congregation. This means listening and being in touch with need of the congregation. Preaching may well be like parenting. If your child is about to do something dangerous, you will respond with the appropriate response. At the basis of this response is love. Confrontational preaching is necessary if the preacher discerns form God that this may be necessary. This should not be the only type of preaching that preachers have in their repertoire. Imagine a parent who always shouted at their children even when they were not in danger.
re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?
Posted by Thomas Calamunce on Sep. 24, 2007 at 18:29
In Matthew 16:23 Jesus became confrontational with Peter when Peter said that Jesus would never be killed and then raised on the third day. Preaching can be confrontational. There are things in the Bible which are non-negotiable, and in order to assert these things certainly one of the ways to do this is through preaching. Perhaps this is not the best approach to winning people over to Christ but there are times when a believer needs to snap back into place and the only way this can be done is through loving confrontation. The bottom line is that preaching is a part of a SPIRITUAL war. Within the war there are battles which are waged. Maybe in preaching you don’t use your most potent and destructive weapons since the preacher does not know who is in the audience but weapons are none the less appropriate.
re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?
Posted by zachariah rippee on Jan. 20, 2007 at 12:55
First, I believe you don’t have to have a group to preach to. If you have one person who God has moved you to speak to, preach to them like you would preach to 100s. I believe that there are moments, moments when satan is lurking around, so twisted in our listeners hearts, that the only way we will uproot him is to be confrontational. But we need to remember that we are comfronting satan and sin, not the person whom God made, like he made you and me.
re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?
Posted by Jon Mair on Jan. 18, 2007 at 18:45
I think in preaching the idea of confrontation is not appropriate because it is such a one-way form of communication. Confrontation can be used in one on one or small group situations where there is opportunity for dialouge. If confrontation is used in preaching it pits the speaker against the audience and ends up simply being a ramming of information. When that happens the listener will often either shut off or storm out. This does nothing to reach that person but simply makes them upset. Therefore I think confrontation is an option just not for use in preaching situations.