I returned yesterday from the last of eight weekends with a group of Ukrainian preachers in Germany. It might sound like a cliché, but I reckon that I might have learned as much from them as they have from me!
1. They have been active listeners. They are not afraid to ask questions and offer opinions.
2. They have been demanding. They have asked more from me in terms of the teaching time and a call to be more flexible.
3. They have helped me to think more fully about the need for and the usefulness of interactive times and meaningful group work. These guys always want a minute or two more to discuss a question and are more than happy to offer their feedback.
I am grateful for all their insights, encouraged by their attentiveness and delighted by their progress. Any teacher is happy when they hear their students speak about what has been taught, intelligently using the terminology and concepts used in class.
I guess that the best teachers and preachers are those that continue to learn.
I was in a coffee shop on my last morning there when I had an impromptu meeting with two of the younger students. They preach but are also involved in the music ministry of the church. They asked me about how I helped to develop the worship team at my church.
It has been six years since I have had the week by week responsibility of doing that but shared some insights.
I have always found it good to develop a good relationship with those who have done music in the church. Music can make or break a service. Therefore, it is crucial that preacher and worship group are on the same page.
Services can be so full of songs that the preaching can be marginalised or squeezed. On the other hand, sermons can be such a main event in the service that everything else is viewed as a preliminary to the preaching.
I once wrote an essay in response to the suggestion that “Worship is preaching and Preaching is worship.” David Peterson writes:
“Paul’s proclamation of the gospel was a religious act comparable with the praise offered in conjunction with the sacrificial ritual of the tabernacle or temple.”
Peterson is referring to Paul’s words in Romans 1:9:
“God, whom I serve (worship) with my whole heart in the preaching of the gospel of his son …”
Hughes Oliphant Old, commenting on this passage, writes:
“The preaching and hearing of the word of God is in the last analysis worship, worship in its most profound sense. Preaching is not an auxiliary activity to worship, nor is it the kind of preparation for worship which one hopes to follow.”
True worship proclaims the glory of our triune God, lifting his name high so that we can rejoice in his splendour and enjoy his presence. True preaching magnifies the triune God and helps us to delight in him and desire to trust, worship and obey him.
Getting the mix right is a beautiful thing.
Photo by Felicia Buitenwerf on Unsplash