Choosing to Preach Discussion

re: #1 - Is Preaching Arrogant?

Posted by Marian Tong on Oct. 22, 2007 at 20:59

part 2:

My personal observation after a few years is, it is also a cultural thing to think that our teaching/preaching is arrogant and other people may think we are arrogant because we claim to preach the truth. At the first ESL classes for kids/adults/students, the ESL teachers will tell them that we, as Canadians, have to avoid to talk about two things in Canada in order not to make other people’s upset – politics and religions. I heard that over years when I was working with ESL clients. It seems that we feel ashamed to talk about our faith, so that we feel that preaching can be arrogant in the non-Christian perspectives. But I can’t deny that it’s a social atmosphere because this thought has been embedded with the culture and society. On the other hand, I realized that people who have other faiths and are deeply involved in their religions will not reject our messages (but the salvation) because they treat other people’s faith with respects. They just don’t want to covert to our faith. They really expect you to talk about your own faith and experiences because they see faith as a big part of their lives! It will be odd if you try to cover up something should be active in your lives. Of course, this kind of equal sharing (both parties share their own faiths) starts only when we have developed relationships with them. Somehow we really need to re-think about the attitudes to talk about our own faith in Canada because we have too many presumptions of others’ people perceptions and possible rejections before even we start our sharing! I believe that the boundary issues do exist but I always found odd that I can’t share my faith at the dinner table in Canada or among friends that are non-believers here, even though I can do that in Hong Kong – a more materialistic and polytheistic (including the atheist ideology) society than Canada. Of course our goal is the Great Commission in the Bible and covert everyone we see, yet I seldom really think that sharing our lives (faith) is arrogant!

So is preaching arrogant? I don’t think so. If we don’t superior ourselves to see that we know the truth, I don’t think non-Christians would feel in that way. it may be a self—defeating questions in our mind. :)

re: #1 - Is Preaching Arrogant?

Posted by Marian Tong on Oct. 22, 2007 at 20:58

part 1: Sometimes I believe that it’s not the preachers or the sermons or the preaching styles being arrogant, but people who are not so much "post-modern" being arrogant. Please forgive me to say that, because if people are truly "post-modern" they will at least listen to what Christians are saying and make decisions to believe according to their value systems. Whether or not they make a good decision in their choices are hard-to-say. Somehow, I could relate post-modernism to the OT Israelites’ attitudes towards YahWeh. I believed that seeing so many idols and worshipping styles and God’s miracles in their eras, they should have known what is the truth. However, they didn’t. Or they did but they just chose their idols accordingly because it was easy-to-follow and it satisfied their ego’s needs. Thus, post-modernism was just another way to tell the old stories.

However, I can’t deny the fact that we live in a post-modern society and we’ll be influenced by the attitudes of not having any absolute truth, especially when there is so much wrong information presented in our lives. Sometimes we, as Christians, were trapped too because we aren’t sure about the truths either. We can also say Jeremiah and Isaiah were arrogant too, but it was just that the truth is not something for easy-listening. That is exactly what happen now too! What I found interesting is, sometimes there are certain kinds of stereotypical pre-assumptions going on only on Christianity. From my perspective, I never really heard about people saying that "budda" is arrogant or the Catholic priests are arrogant (May be you heard about that!). I believed that they are specialized to talk about good works and human wisdoms so that they are less emotionally provoking for listeners who are not able to take the truth.

Therefore, the charge of arrogance is basically a false accusation, given that if the preachers are humble enough to claim the truth. Sometimes we are too arrogant to proclaim that we know the truth, but live like we do not know the truth. That’s the part people picked on when we are off the pulpits/stages. However, people do have assumptions that Christians should have known the truth, yet if we fail to life with the truth, it means that the truth is just an ideology.

re: #1 - Is Preaching Arrogant?

Posted by George Bedlion on Oct. 02, 2007 at 20:52

Avoiding the appearance of arrogance is difficult for anyone who stands in front of others with a message that can be contrary to there thinking or at least exclusive in the truth it dispenses. I think the nature of preaching opens itself to criticism quite easily- one hears the word preacher and he or she sees one solitary (usually) male figure in a pulpit waving his finger emphatically at an audience of zombie onlookers as if his spindly flapping digit was a purifying dagger piercing their souls. Ok maybe thats an overstatement but the feelings the word "preacher" evokes might not actually be too far from those the image creates. Preaching can be perceived as arrogant because it delves into personal feelings and notions about reality and belief. And whether you want to use the buzz word "postmodern" or not for our culture, we can be sure that most people do not enjoy feeling as though someone is forcing ideas on them or talking down from a lofty Ivory pulpit or putting our noses deep into personal buisness. So how do we tell people the truth without coming across as if we think we are superior? Well I’m not completely sure but I think a spirit of humility and grace helps. The moment we step up onto the platform or wherever we show with our demeanor and words that we are nothing special. Our ideas, our words, our lives personally are nothing special. The message we preach is not from us, it is from God. His holy word is where we gain the right, the power, and even audacity to bring a message. When preaching is put in that light we have nothing to fear and neither does the listener. This humbler approach could help break the stereotypes preachers face every time they step to the platform and create an enviroment where God’s marvelous spirit and word can more easily take root in the lives of people needing Him. Less of us more of Him!

re: #1 - Is Preaching Arrogant?

Posted by Laurie Tyndall on Sep. 24, 2007 at 23:48

Preaching is only arrogant if the preacher feels he has God all figured out. I would assume that Jonah was a very arrogant ‘preacher’. He may have understood that he was called to preach repentance to the Ninevites, but he did not love them. In fact, he couldn’t understand how God could turn from punishing them. After all, they did not even know God and His ways, like Jonah himself did! Despite Jonah’s arrogance, God used Him and spared the Ninevites, using Jonah for His own purposes despite Jonah’s turmoil. God reminds us here, that He can use anyone He calls for His purposes. Jonah reminds us, that God loves all of His creation and will reveal Himself to whomever He chooses – whether they are arrogant or not!

re: #1 - Is Preaching Arrogant?

Posted by Tom Reynolds on Sep. 22, 2007 at 00:04

It as been suggested that preaching is not at heart arrogant because we are not proclaiming our own message but God’s. If people have a problem with what we are saying then they should take it up with God and not blame us for being arrogant. The difficulty with this is that it requires a recognition of God’s right to dictate conditions. This objection can be overcome but only if one presupposes the existence of God. Those who call Christians arrogant no doubt disclaim this. Therefore they can either judge us as arrogant or misguided but they cannot expect their objection to be taken seriously inside a church. Its very existence reflects attendees’ belief in God and their desire to know his will for their lives. Let us therefore preach to his heart’s content!

re: #1 - Is Preaching Arrogant?

Posted by Mike Keigley on Sep. 19, 2007 at 14:22

ATTN MODS: I seem to be having trouble pasting from my word processor. I keep posting the unedited version. Please delete 2 erroneous postings.

Christianity has always experienced opposition; we should expect that there will be resistance to the message. The charge of arrogance doesn’t come out of a void. There is at times truth to such charges. There are many prominent arrogant preachers who thunder down moral precepts from their position in the pulpit and then are exposed for abysmal moral failures in the public eye. The charge of arrogance is something that in some ways we have earned. Preachers up until the last 20 or so years were given positional status above the "average" Christian, and some have never come down. Some of the best preaching comes from preachers who "come down" off the stage into where the listeners are sitting. They may not physically come down off the stage but they can come down by changing their approach. They can now share what God has shown them this week in a humble and yet authoritative way. Being real and honest is one step to avoid this charge. Trying to create a performance that doesn’t match up with our character doesn’t hold water today. Generally people want honesty and respect, in the end they may not agree but they will see that the person was honest in their approach. We have to also understand that no matter what we say or do there will always view the Christian view as arrogant.

re: #1 - Is Preaching Arrogant?

Posted by Sally Peng on Sep. 12, 2007 at 00:21

A verse came to mind as I pondered this question—Acts 2:37. It described the people as being “pierced to the heart” when they heard the Spirit-filled apostles preaching the truth about Christ. There are a few key elements in this example that might help us in dealing with the charge of arrogance in preaching. The preachers/apostles were first Spirit-filled. This means that the preacher’s spiritual life and situation is key to a sincere but powerful sermon. The apostles also focused on the truth about Christ. This should also be the main content of our sermon. At the same time, they instantaneously answered the listeners’ questions with the essential truth. They did not impress or intimidate the crowd with their profound knowledge or rich experience but they gave them a concise answer which was, most importantly, information about being saved. I think that’s how we handle the issue of being arrogant—more about Christ, less about us.

re: #1 - Is Preaching Arrogant?

Posted by Philip Yung on Feb. 01, 2007 at 18:02

True preaching is not arrogant because the first act of preaching begins with hearing God’s word, which is an act of submission and humility. If a preacher hears God’s word in his or her life and assimilates it, they can avoid the charge of arrogance by preaching from their humanity, which involves proclaiming God’s truth while identifying their struggle to live the message and how it evokes change in their lives. God wants preachers to preach his divine truth from their human experience and struggle. This will help the preacher come across as a humble listener before God, which identifies him with his hearers.

re: #1 - Is Preaching Arrogant?

Posted by Chris Synesael on Feb. 01, 2007 at 00:15

i found this to be an interesting question, and while i agree with most of what has been posted here, i am inclined to think the answer depends on who the question is being asked to. for example, to someone like myself, i have to come to be comfortable with the idea of a pastor standing up and ‘telling’ me what they believe the scriptures are saying…some are gentle, some are too soft, some are in the middle. but my personal conviction is that a pastor/preacher is not arrogant. HOWEVER, if you were to ask someone like my mother, an unbelieving skeptic, she would have a completely different answer. she feels it is so arrogant and inappropriate to tell anyone anything about the mysteries of God.

so is preaching arrogant? i guess it depends on who you are asking.

i say no.

re: #1 - Is Preaching Arrogant?

Posted by Tim Durksen on Jan. 31, 2007 at 15:56

Yes there are times when preaching comes off as arrogant. I think one of the ways that a preacher comes off as being arrogant is when it seems like he/she knows everything and talks down to his/her listeners. If a preacher uses inclusive language and speaks about the things he/she has learned and wants to share it with people it comes off a lot less arrogant.

re: #1 - Is Preaching Arrogant?

Posted by Johnny Lo on Jan. 17, 2007 at 21:12

A preacher can avoid the charge of arrogance by preaching God’s word, and not of the words of him or herself. The words that we speak are from God, and not of ourselves. Moreover, we need to preach out of true, genuine love and not out of arrogance. With this in mind, we should also be aware of our own attitude and motivations for preaching.

re: #1 - Is Preaching Arrogant?

Posted by zachariah rippee on Dec. 25, 2006 at 14:45

As long as we look at it as conveying truth that has already been spoken, not by us(very important to keep this in mind), but by God then we should not have to worry about arrogance. You’re not superior, God didn’t just tell YOU the truth, so you could tell others, he told everyone, in the form of his word. we are just passing on a truth shared with us. in Christ