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reuben munn – counterpoint preaching

Sep 20th, 2011
by Reuben Munn.
3 comments

I was talking the other day to a friend about a Christian conference he had been to. In the context of telling me about one of the speakers, my friend made an interesting comment: “when it comes to Christian speakers, I find it helpful to ask, ‘who do they think is the enemy?’” In other words, what is the viewpoint or paradigm that their message is subtly (or not so subtly) opposing?

That question struck me as an interesting one to ask of preaching. In our preaching, who do we think is the enemy? Maybe the word ‘enemy’ is too harsh. A softer question might be: what is the counterpoint to my preaching? It seems to me that most preaching is a counterpoint to something. Sermons tend not only to promote a particular way of thinking, but also to counter an alternative way of thinking. By identifying what that alternative is, we are better placed to evaluate and improve our own preaching.

The senior pastor of our church before me was big on defending the Christian faith against non-Christian sceptics. His preaching counterpoint was secular humanism or atheism. So his preaching tended to be heavily apologetic, giving rational arguments for the truth of the gospel. For me, I think my primary preaching counterpoint these days is a staunch Christian fundamentalism that truncates the gospel and reduces theology to a set of rigid, abstract propositions. That’s where I used to be, and having moved away from that personally, I find that it has become the counterpoint to much of my preaching. So my preaching often attempts to broaden people’s understanding of the gospel and connect people to the overarching narrative of the Scriptures.

This may seem like a bit of a negative way to think about preaching, as a counterpoint to an alternative way of thinking. But I have found that identifying my preaching counterpoint has helped me become more self-aware as a preacher. It has also helped me make adjustments so that my preaching is not too one-sided; I am trying to interact with other counterpoint views and perspective that I may otherwise ignore.

Does this idea of a preaching counterpoint ring true for anyone else, and if so, can you identify what yours is?

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Reuben Munn is Senior Pastor of Shore Community Church on Auckland’s North Shore, whose teaching features on the TV programme Connection Point on Shine TV.

reuben munn – preaching in crisis

Mar 15th, 2011
by Reuben Munn.
4 comments

As I sat watching the unfolding horror of the Christchurch earthquake aftermath on TV last week, I have to admit that one of my concerns was a bit more selfish: does this mean I need to throw out this week’s sermon and start over? Our church is in Auckland and many people in the congregation weren’t directly affected by the event. But we were all shocked at what happened and wanted to show our solidarity with and support for Cantabrians. Should I completely rewrite my message in view of the tragedy, or stick to the message I had prepared?

That’s a difficult question for preachers, especially because in the case of crisis events we are often forced to answer it quickly. In this case I had several days before Sunday, but disasters can arise at the last minute and throw everything up in the air. It is worth thinking through how we as preachers determine our response to such events.

There are certainly times when it is appropriate to set aside whatever we have prepared and address the situation directly. Maybe this is what Paul meant when he told Timothy to be ready to preach the word “out of season” as well as in season. Those out-of-season moments come when unexpected events are weighty and significant enough that they need to be spoken into from the pulpit. When the hearts and minds of our congregation are gripped by a tragedy (even if they’re not directly affected by it), we risk becoming disconnected and irrelevant if we ignore it in our preaching. Moreover we lose an opportunity to help interpret that event biblically and give expression to the grief and hurt people may feel. Even though it may require some late night hours of rewriting, it is worth it to bring the gospel to bear on the realities of life that are confronting us.

For events that are not as close to home, or not as serious (I know, this is subjective—how do you apply scientific criteria to these things?) it may be appropriate to carry on with the message we’ve planned, but find another way to address the situation in the service. This could be through a pastoral prayer, a special offering, or comments we make at the beginning of our message before launching in.

I chose to rework my existing message around the Christchurch earthquake. I was planning to speak on Ecclesiastes 1 and there is a natural affinity between that passage and the sense of futility we feel at the devastation the quake has caused. And the earthquake has reminded of the fragility and transience of life, which the writer of Ecclesiastes laments. This approach seems best when we are already working with a passage that speaks into the situation. The danger is that we end up twisting the passage to make it fit the circumstances and try to make it say something it’s not really saying. So we need to be careful that we are still being lead by the text, while making application to the situation.

I’m aware that my task is nothing compared to that of preachers in Christchurch who will be standing before congregations on Sunday that are suffering deeply. I pray they may be given grace and strength to speak an out-of-season word through which God brings hope and healing.

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Reuben Munn is Senior Pastor of Shore Community Church on Auckland’s North Shore. He also preaches on the TV programme Connection Point, a ministry of SCC, which screens on Shine TV. He enjoys reading and is a keen piano player.

reuben munn: the medium is the message?

Aug 9th, 2010
by Reuben Munn.
2 comments

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘tele-evangelist?’ For many people, it evokes the image of a suit-wearing, sweat-dripping, fist-pounding American preacher, asking his audience for money. This kind of connotation can lead people to think preaching has no place on television or any broadcast media. But I think it’s possible for biblical preaching to effectively translate into mass media within a New Zealand context. (more…)

reuben munn: tempted to moralise

Feb 9th, 2010
by Reuben Munn.
4 comments

One of the challenges in preaching I’ve been wrestling with over the last year or so is how to prevent my sermons drifting toward moralism.

Last year I preached through the book of Joshua and the year before that, Mark. In both cases I was struck by how tempting it was to allow the text to become just a cute moral lesson about imitating Jesus or an ethical example from Israel’s successes and failures. It seemed that no matter what the passage was, the application wanted to veer toward personal ethics. (more…)