Proclaimer Blog
Preacher as DJ
I used to be a radio DJ. I know, I know – hard to believe, but true nonetheless. I guess, as a failed musician, the next best thing was playing other people's records. And it's not a bad picture for what a preacher is. I thought about this as I took some Sunday School teachers training on Saturday. It's always helpful to have pictures of what we're doing when we preach and teach God's word to others. I personally quite like the picture of preacher as chef. It's a helpful illustration and one I've used here before. But here's my latest – the preacher as DJ.
Some Bible preachers and teachers are like amateurs in the karaoke bar. Occasionally you get a really good singer and you can enjoy the moment. But even when you get a good singer, it's still the singer's voice you hear. The backing track is almost inconsequential. It's just helping the singer hit the note and shine through. It strikes me that many preachers – at least subconsciously – think this way. Or, at best, it's the way their preaching comes across. The living and enduring word of God is their backing track, and their preaching or teaching is the means by which they shine through.
But your people have not come to church to hear you. They've come to church to hear God. And – to be more precise – they've not come to church to hear you take liberties with the text and make it say things it is not meant to say. That's karaoke bar show off coloratura. No, you're the DJ. Your job is to spin the discs and play the music someone else has already recorded. Your task as preacher is to let God be the lead singer, backing band and vocals. Cue it up, by all means, get the volume right, mix it nicely.
But just play the record. It's what your people need.