If your preaching falls on deaf ears then maybe the preacher is the problem.
I read today (this is my paraphrase) “often preaching is like someone trying to teach swimming on dry land”.
I understand this to mean that there is often a disconnect between the topic being discussed and the life experience of the speaker.
Obviously every preacher has not experienced every high and low in life but they are expected to reflect on most of them and how to bring out the fullness of Christ in their experiences.
This us the intersection of preaching and real life. We stand at the corner seeking revelation with a bible in one hand and a white cane in the other.
Enter hubris, stage right. Many including myself have stood at the corner awaiting revelation in agony because “we are the preacher, we have to bring Gods word this week. It’s my responsibility.” when a great cloud of witnesses sit in front of us with experience abounding.
It reminds me a little of Gran Torino:
Father Janovich: [eulogizing Walt] Walt Kowalski once said to me that I knew nothing about life or death, because I was an over-educated, 27-year-old virgin who held the hand of superstitious old women and promised them eternity.
Walt definitely had no problem calling it like he saw it. But he was right. I knew really nothing about life or death, until I got to know Walt… and boy, did I learn.
It’s ok preacher not to know stuff. It’s ok to leave seminary, college or whatever it happens to be called where you learn theology. It is not ok to pretend that you have lived more, experienced more or have all the answers just because you stand at the front.
If your preaching falls on deaf ears then maybe the preacher is the problem.
Maybe you are swimming on dry land. Jump in, the waters fine and life awaits.
