Shepherding the Flock Through the Sermon

We preachers should not abandon the need for leadership once the sermon begins. Of course, there are many essentials to good preaching. We consider things like prayerful dependence to exegetical precision through to textual application. Homiletical effectiveness and Spirit-empowered preaching all contribute to that effective sermon. But let me add, what about leadership? There is also the need to shepherd our congregations through the sermon.

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the recent Paralympic Games in Italy. The athletes were profoundly amazing despite their disabilities. One event that captured my interest involved blind skiers. Blind skiers in the Paralympics navigate courses at high speeds—sometimes exceeding 100 km/h—by relying on a sighted guide who skis in front of them and provides constant, real-time feedback through audio communication systems. The guide skis ahead of the blind skier, providing a clear reference point. In Para-Alpine events, the guide must be in front to ensure safety and to allow the athlete to follow their audio, and in some cases, visual, cues.

Picture, if you will, a blind skier being coached on a downhill run. The coach is making him or her aware of the approaching changes of direction, adjusting speed, concentrating at key junctures, and guiding them to a successful conclusion. Picture, if you will, a blind congregation, before them lie an awareness of context, major headings that shift direction, positions where speed covers large terrain, and other places that require sustained concentration. How will the congregation be guided down the sermonic run? The preacher must keep one eye on his sermon outline and notes, but at the same time look to the congregation, make sure that are following, and make sure they are aware of the winding flow of the sermon. This is leadership. This is shepherding the church through the sermon.

This, of course, can only be done in the context of a preacher who has a clear outline in his own mind. The outline is a map of the course that shows the shifting flows of thought and emphasis. Added to this, the preacher needs to clearly lead his people down the slope guiding them through the logic of the text. Simply preaching the text and hoping that the congregation is following is not good enough.

The preacher is standing at the top of the slope. There is a clear destination seen at the bottom. The plan of the descent reveals several turns, left and then right, and so on. The difficulty of some as compared to others will be noted. The preacher sees all that, but his congregation sees nothing. The congregation must necessarily hear the sermon, but they also must be guided, lead, through the sermon.

At the Paralympics, the sighted guides and blind skiers use bluetooth headsets built into their helmets to communicate. The guide provides continuous, verbal instructions, such as calling out "left," "right," "turn," or warning of upcoming terrain changes like "jump" or "drop". Similarly, the sighted preacher needs to guide the blind congregation through his sermon narrative. At the beginning, the map of the slope should be explained. “Having noted this main point of this passage, please note the following headings that will support that assertion.”  “So, the first heading was this, as we just noted, now we turn to the second heading.”  As the descent is unfolded, the congregation is kindly shepherded down the slope, anticipating each major point through to a successful conclusion.

The relationship between a skier and their guide is crucial, often developed over years of training together. They must learn each other's rhythm and trust one another implicitly. The preacher and congregation are, in the moment of the sermon, part of a unique relationship. Certainly, content and Spirit-empowered delivery will be key. As a shepherd the preacher is certainly feeding his sheep. But is he leading his sheep? Unlike ranching, the preacher does not dump a bale of hay before his congregation. The shepherd leads his sheep to the food and guides his sheep through the course of the menu.

Switching metaphors, imagine dining at the finest of establishments. You look at the display of plates, cutlery, and various glasses, wondering what this is all about? The waiter then brings a dish with a comparatively small amount of food on it. But this waiter is not just concerned with delivery the food but also guiding you through the elaborate menu. He or she explains the use of the varied plates, the linear display of cutlery, teaching you to work from outside in. He or she explains the lineup of glasses. And then the waiter explains the beautifully plated, yet small serving of what is called an hors d'oeuvre. The careful instruction continues to the end. The diner has been led through the meal.

All preachers use a form of logical discourse in their preaching. I submit that the preacher who has not abandoned his role as a shepherd leader will carefully guide the sheep through the menu. He will stand at the top of the hill guiding the skier through the twists and turns of the slope. He will recognize his need to shepherd his sheep through the sermon, not just with the sermon.

 

 

 

Humility in Young Leaders

In view of the issue in Corinth that Clement of Rome wrote to; and that I recently blogged about, I thought this interview would be timely.  Dr. Justin Holcomb interviewed Dr. Ed Welch and shared some wisdom for young leaders on the importance of humility in ministry. [1]

 

 

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1. http://theresurgence.com/2013/02/13/ed-welch-on-humility-in-young-leaders?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheResurgence+%28The+Resurgence%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Let's Get Rid of These Leaders!

What do you do when you want to overthrow your church leaders without due cause?   Well what you DON'T do is read 1 Clement.  He will not sympathize with your ambitions.

Who is Clement?  He was probably a Gentile and lived between A.D. 30-100.  Most believe that this is the Clement referred to in Philippians 4:3 (evidently written from Rome); and a co-worker with the Apostle Paul. This belief is founded on the writings of Eusebius (see below). The internal evidence also tends to support this opinion.

Others thought that he may have been an ex-slave of the family of Titus Flavius Clemens, cousin of the Emperor Domitian. One tradition claims that he was the second bishop of Rome, immediately after the apostle Peter; another tradition indicates that two bishops served between Peter and Clement.

It seems likely that Clement was a pastor in the church at Rome.  His letter to Corinth entitled 1 Clement assumes a similar responsbility to answering an important question for the Corinthian Church regarding unity and sedition. This letter probably was written about A.D. 95.   Because this is probably the earliest extrabiblical writings it stands in a place of great prominence.  His letter also is an important testimony to the canon of the New Testament, alluding to 1 Corinthians, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 Timothy, Titus, Hebrews, and 1 Peter. [1]   These New Testament allusions are employed as authoritative sources which strengthen Clement’s arguments to the Corinthian church. The letter was lengthy and includes several references to the Old Testament.  Clement repeatedly refers to the Old Testament as Scripture.

Clement’s admonition to “Take up the epistle of the blessed Paul the Apostle” (xlvii. 1)  implies his intimate knowledge of Paul's letter and implies that these documents were available to the Corinthian church. 
 

"This Epistle was held in very great esteem by the early Church. The account given of it by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., iii. 16) is as follows: “There is one acknowledged Epistle of this Clement (whom he has just identified with the friend of St. Paul), great and admirable, which he wrote in the name of the Church of Rome to the Church at Corinth, sedition having then arisen in the latter Church. We are aware that this Epistle has been publicly read in very many churches both in old times, and also in our own day.” The Epistle before us thus appears to have been read in numerous churches, as being almost on a level with the canonical writings. And its place in the Alexandrian ms., immediately after the inspired books, is in harmony with the position thus assigned it in the primitive Church." [2]


The purpose of the letter seems to be some dispute (sedition) in Corinth, which had led to the removal from office of several elders. Certain younger leaders had not given proper respect to the bishops and deacons and have set up new leaders in their place. Since there was no moral offense, Clement deemed their removal as unjustifiable.







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1. Vos, H. F., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1996). Exploring church history. Nelson's Christian Cornerstone Series. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

2. Dr. A. Cleveland Coxe, in Schaff, Philip (2009-06-08). Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 1 - Enhanced Version (Early Church Fathers) (Kindle Locations 157-162). Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Kindle Edition.