What?! No Sermon?!
That is probably one of the most asked questions or most shock-induced comments I get from people who hear about organic or house church. It’s almost as if it doesn’t process right away! So I thought I’d write a little bit of my thoughts on the subject!
Obviously, for 500 years the sermon has been the central point of the protestant church. Every Sunday morning at the appointed time the pastor steps up to his pulpit and delivers an inspirational or informational speech. However, I agree with Frank Viola in Pagan Christianity when he writes, “The sermon actually detracts from the very purpose for which God designed the church gathering. And it has very little to do with genuine spiritual growth.”
At this point you would say “But preaching is in the Bible!” True, it is. However there is a world of difference between what you see in the pages of the New Testament and what happens every week in most churches in America. Today, it’s a regular occurrence, usually delivered by the same person each time to a passive audience and it is a cultivated form of a speech. Contrast that to the kind of preaching of the Bible–In the Old & New Testament we find preaching that includes active participation where the audience often interjected and interrupted! The pattern was sporadic and spontaneous–meaning it was usually delivered on special occasions in order to deal with specific issues. There was no structure and it followed no pattern.
So, where did the modern-day sermon come from? The earliest recorded Christian source for a regular sermon is found during the late second century when Celement of Alexandria complained that sermons did so little to change Christians! A little further study shows that Christians began borrowing from pagan Greek culture in the 2nd century the idea of a sermon! It evolved from the sophists, who were expert debaters. They would go from town to town and give the same or similar speech to wow the crowd with their intellect and smarts. They even wore special clothing to identify themselves! They were the most distinguished men of their time. Around the 3rd century, the last of the traveling Christian workers who spoke out of a prophetic burden began to die off. Barna and Viola write “To fill their absence, the clergy began to emerge. Open meeting began to die out, and church gatherings became more and more liturgical. The church meeting was developing into a service.”
As this was happening, pagan philosophers and followers were becoming Christians and instead of the pagan practice of the rhetorical debate dying out, the church adopted it!
So, why does it matter? Who cares where the idea came from if it works, right? Well, does it work? I would argue a BIG NO! Why? First, the sermon makes the preacher a professional performer of a gathering. This means that the congregation becomes passive spectators who are watching the performance. Pagan Christianity says “The sermon freezes and imprisons the functioning of the body of Christ.”
This leads to what I believe is slowed or retarded spiritual growth. Ever wonder why we have so many churches full of spiritually immature folks? As Christians we have to be active to mature. If we get used to sitting and listening week after week, it fosters a “do-nothing” mentality. We can’t grow that way!
Another issue is the equipping of the saints that Paul speaks of. Rather than equipping believers the sermon has little power to do anything else but inform and inspire. However, many believers have become addicted to the sermons they hear each week.
I believe pastors have great intentions and continue to do what they do because “it’s always been done that way.” I mean, who is going to teach them differently? It’s what we always have known, right? Still, I pray that God would begin to move churches and wake them up to this issue!