Proclaimer Blog
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers #8
Chapter 8. The Character of the Message
The chapter sets out ‘certain conclusions’ on the relation of the listeners to the preacher.
First, the preacher must take account of the spiritual state of the congregation. In particular, he must assume every time that there are in front of him a good number of unconverted church members. There must be an evangelistic sermon in at least one service each week, in order to address such people most directly. Real Christians won’t mind attending that service, as they will know that it does them spiritual good. If a church’s preaching aims only ever at edification of believers, over time it will produce ‘hard and cold’ members.
Second, though, the pew must never control the pulpit. ‘What is needed in the pulpit is authority, great authority.’ It is of course a spiritual authority, not a churchy or scholarly one. The preacher has been appointed by God for the task, and every Christian should delight in listening to him.
The chapter ends with some detailed observations on church architecture (flat ceilings – essential for acoustics) and pulpit design (central, raised, and with the desk at the level of the pit of the stomach – essential for the preacher being seen to have the authority that he actually has). And, in case you were wondering, wear a gown to preach (marking your authority) but never an academic hood (boasting of your irrelevant academic qualifications).
Reflections
The final sections on pulpit design and preacher’s attire seem partly tongue-in-cheek; they read that way to me. MLJ seems to know that he’s giving very specific instructions which don’t entirely have the full weight of scriptural authority! But they aim to express something he is deadly serious about: the spiritual authority which the preacher has and which his sermon must be recognised as having by his hearers. In his world he had his particular ways of expressing it, a bit idiosyncratic from our point of view though they may have been.
This chapter forces this kind of question on us:
– If you are a preacher who enjoys booming at people from six feet up and have a building designed for the purpose, are you enjoying a false authority in preaching that’s based purely on worldly, cultural things?
– If you are a preacher who feels nervous at some of MLJ’s instructions, could it be that you live in a culture that is so negative towards authority that you’ve lost sight of something important about preaching? Authority can’t be avoided (just happening to be wearing the most expensively ripped designer jeans in the place is after all also a statement of authority), so in our own contexts we need to think through the right way to express it, as MLJ did in his.