When I was serving as a Resource Minister I would visit in different churches in my area of responsibility. A pastor was called to one of the churches for which I had responsibility who was a PhD student at a nearby seminary. I visited one Sunday morning to join them for worship. To this day I am convinced he repeated a lesson from one of his doctoral classes. I could tell from the looks of the people sitting around me that many of them had no idea what he was talking about. The sermon may have been theologically sound, but it said nothing to the lives of this rural congregation.
Whether Jesus was speaking to a crowd or to individuals he spoke to the things that was important to their lives. To the woman caught in adultery He spoke words of forgiveness and repentance. To the woman at the well He spoke of relationships, the one thing she had been seeking all her life, and the relationship He offered was one that would never fail. To Lazarus' sisters He offered hope. When He spoke to the religious leaders He addressed their hypocrisy and challenged them to turn from their rituals and law-based religion to a living faith in a living God. Every message was not only theologically sound but also addressed real life needs of real life people. We who stand in the pulpit each week can do no less.
As a pastor I gave every sermon I prepared the "so what" test. More than once I tossed a sermon that I realized didn't really speak to what was happening in people's lives at that time. Yes, everything in it might have been true, but so what did that matter if it didn't pertain to people's lives?
To be a pastor one must know his or her people, and that only happens when the pastor leaves the office and spends time with those being served. When I first began my pastoral ministry I spent time in people's homes, in their hospital rooms, in their barns to get to know them. I went fishing with them and even went with one coon hunting. The better I understood their lives, their hopes, their fears, the better I could speak to them in my messages.
It's equally as important to know what is happening in the lives of the unchurched persons in your community. Just as we need to exegete Scripture, we need to be able to exegete our community. At least 80 percent of every county in the United States is unchurched. How well do you know the lives of that 80 percent in your area? Without knowing their lives, how will you effectively minister to them? After sharing this with a church the pastor asked how he could know what the lives of the unchurched were around them. This church was in the middle of a residential area with houses surrounding the church building. I looked at him and responded, "Walk up and down the streets and talk to the people you meet. Go into the local cafes for a coffee or lunch and talk to the people there." He looked at me like that was something he had never considered!
There is a book called Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time. It's a book about networking, building relationships, to help one be more successful in business and life. What's true for careers is also good for ministry. The more time we spend with others the better we will be able to speak into their lives.
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