Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Preaching Home Boy!

I came across this entry the other day and could not agree more with the author. I don't mind occasionally preaching in a congregation other than my own, but I never look forward to it. An important part of preaching is knowing your audience, and after 32 years I know mine pretty well!


Why I'm a preaching home-boy

Preached a week ago last Sunday on Zechariah 5-6 and yesterday on Zechariah 7. Hope and pray it went OK. I don't think these are passages I could ever have preached anywhere other than at home church. Sure, I could explain them OK to strangers, but that is not preaching. 
  • In difficult apocalyptic literature you need to know people well enough to know what they will understand and won't.
  • Knowing people also shapes application sharply, or it should. Sure, the preaching of Zechariah 5-7 got the people building again (see Ezra 5.1-2). But we need sharper application than simply "you get building too...!" Ezra 4 details the opposition that the exiles faced. Zechariah 5-7 needs to be preached in the light of the opposition we face.
  • Chief among the "mighty mountains" (Zech 4.17) that God needs to level is indwelling sin (which, I think, is the significance of the woman in the basket in Zechariah 5). Again, knowing people and knowing how that sinfulness manifests itself is key to sharp application. Similarly, false religion rears its ugly head in Zechariah 7. There it is fasting. It may well be fasting for our people today, but if we don't know how we will preach well...?
I'm a preaching home boy. That's where it counts. 
http://www.proctrust.org.uk/blog/2010-11-22/why-im-preaching-home-boy-935