Should you preach 2 Chronicles just… because?

 The gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

Acts.

James.

Ecclesiastes.

These are the regular wells we derive our sermons from.

If you walk into any five churches in Christendom, there will be a sermon on one of these books.

And it makes sense. They tell of the central truths of Christianity. They lay the foundations for the church. They touch on meaty issues.

They aren’t bad. By no means.

But, frankly, they can get tiresome.

There’s only so many sermons of James 3 you can handle over a decade…

So, what place is there for the minister to delve into the darker regions of the bible?

The minor prophets.

The book of Numbers.

The epistles to the Thessalonians.

The book of Jude.

In theory, the congregation should be taught from the entire counsel of God.

This includes the neglected sections.

But, should they be - inevitably - preached on… just because?

Because they are there…

Because God has, is and will speak through them…

Because they will be different…

Ideally, every sermon series is selected intentionally (I touched on how to do it here). 

Is a preaching challenge or interest a good enough reason?

I hate to say it, but no, it isn’t.

The pulpit shouldn’t be used as a device for the preacher to dive into dusty commentaries or research their next book.

The sermon should be a place of service towards the people. It is, by definition, a pastoral exercise. 

Does that mean that the sermon will never darken 2 Chronicles?

Maybe. 

Perhaps the minister just needs to realise they they are not the one to give them God’s message out of 2 Chronicles if they don’t need to hear it right now.

How do you minister to those on the edges of the arguments?

I don’t envy those currently in vocational ministry.

Of course, any time someone is in ministry is a difficult time.

Ministry is messy.

People go through seasons of need or trouble.

You also have your own sh!t to deal with.

Ministry is always a hard juggle of work, faith, church structures, people, expectations, highs, lows, friends and family.

But it must be especially difficult now.

COVID.

Vaccinations.

Isolation.

Uncertainty.

ZOOM everything…

All of these will ramp up the challenges.

And, on top of these, there’s a new tightrope to walk along… conspiracies.

How do you minister effectively to members of your congregation, who both love and want to follow Jesus, but hold opposite views on current issues?

Vaccinations.

Face masks.

Churches staying open.

How do you cater to both sides of the divide? Should you?

Should you let your personal feelings be known?

Should you, to some extent, entertain what you think are crackpot theories?

I would like to say that these tensions are balanced like any hot button issues of the past…

War.

Divorce.

Abortion.

Sexuality.

People in a church can, will and do hold differing opinions on these and a thousand other topics.

But, right now, there seems to be greater, louder and more public division and camp-creating.

If we choose, we can now live, work and listen to only those who are entrenched within our own echo chamber.

So, how do you minister to them?

I’ve actually already answered the question when describing those within the discussions…

If people love and want to follow Jesus, point them there.

Point them to Jesus.

Tell them to follow Jesus.

Ask them what they think Jesus would do.

Ask them how Jesus would treat others with a different viewpoint.

Walk with them through that conversation.

Practically, let the Holy Spirit work in them.

This is how we best minister to those on the edges of a debate and allows those at either end of a discussion to be reminded of the thing - the primary thing - they hold in common.

Am I a former youth minister or a beginner teacher?

Yes. I am.

I was in vocational youth ministry for over a decade.

But I’m also in my final semester of an education degree.

Now, I’m soon to be a newbie in the classroom.

So, what does this mean for this blog?

Does it become a teaching blog?

Does it continue to be a less-often-serviced church blog?

Does it become a thinking-back-to-the-good-old-days of youth ministry blog?

Yes. It does.

It becomes all of them.

Why?

Because, primarily, my blog is about… me.

And I’m a former youth minister…

And I’m about to be a teacher…

And I’m a church attendee…

And I’m a husband…

And I’m a father…

So, yes, the blog will probably mention teaching more and ministry less.

But, that is me now.

And I’m very different to the guy who started Rambling exactly 13 years ago…