Too Deep

Yesterday we talked about the shortcomings of shallow sermons. The other extreme can also be dangerous. We have to equally guard against our sermons being too deep.

Some pastors are hyper critical of those who aren’t deep. But sometimes deep can equal boring or irrelevant.

I love studying the meaning of Greek and Hebrew words and find that sharing some with the church to be very helpful. But an overuse of the original languages can become dull.

Similarly, the history and context of a chapter is also often important. Sometimes though, a pastor can spend so much time in the deep end that people drown in unimportant facts.

Two years ago, a very intelligent pastor moved into my community. Many of my friends attend his church. His sermons are so intellectually deep that the average person can’t track with him. His church has lost about 40% of its weekend attendance.

Several people approached him and asked if he could make the messages easier for them to understand. He adamantly opposed explaining that he’d never dumb down God’s word. While I admire his passion, I think he lacks wisdom.

Those who truly have the gift of teaching must guard against over-teaching a text.

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Too Shallow

Many of us were taught that to reach people today, we have to make our sermons simple, practical and relevant. While I agree that all three qualities are important, we must never forget they all must be spiritual to change lives!

In our efforts to reach people far from God, some pastors with good intentions are perhaps making messages too shallow.

When people come to church today, I believe they truly want to know what the Bible says. There seems to be a genuine hunger for God’s Word. Even if a curious non-Christian attends church, most want to hear a biblical message rather than a self-help and feel-good sermonette.

Our American churches today are sadly filled with many biblically illiterate people. Many truly want to learn more. Most prefer to be challenged rather than babied.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what people want. If sin separates people from God, we can’t be afraid to preach about sin, the cross, and the resurrection.

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Too Creative

Jesus was perhaps the most creative communicator who has ever lived. It’s rare that He didn’t use a story or an object to illustrate truth.

While most sermons could stand to be more creative, a few are teetering on the edge of becoming too creative.

In our consumer-driven society, it’s tempting for pastors to believe every sermon has to be funny, clever, or have a great video to be effective. I’ve unquestionably felt those pressures at different times in ministry.

Although creative communication can be effective and life-changing, if not used properly, it can become distracting or gimmicky.

Some examples could include:

• Overuse of stage props
• Long and ineffective videos
• Humor for humor’s sake
• Unnecessary (and long) stories

Avoid trying “too hard.” Trust the power of God’s Word. Let the text speak. If you can add life to it with appropriate creativity, go for it; but remember that God’s Word was alive before you added your creativity!

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Too Long

Communicating God’s word to people is unquestionably one of the most important things we, as ministers, will ever do. This week, I’d like to talk about four extremes we should try to avoid in our messages. Here’s the first:

When preaching, we must avoiding preaching too long. While there are a few communicators who can hold a crowd for an hour or more, most can’t. It’s rare that I’ve heard people complain because a sermon was too short and they were left craving more; but I’ve often heard that a speaker “lost” the audience well before the message ended.

As a communicator, I try to guard against sharing material that I’m emotionally attached to that doesn’t hold a high impact value for the listener.

Each week, I go over my message ahead of time with select people and ask them what parts aren’t spiritually impactful to them. Most weeks, I’m able to eliminate quite a bit of information that I’d like to share but probably shouldn’t.

(One of my mentors argues that I should work to make the messages much simpler than they are.)

The most effective communicators will recognize that less is often more.

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The Power of a 360

Each year, our staff does 360 reviews. A 360 review is a chance for direct reports, peers, and overseers to have the chance to review one another. They are encouraged to rate each person on issues ranging from teachability, willingness to sacrifice, interpersonal relationships, integrity, and dozens of other core values and attributes.

Each year, almost every staff member is somewhat surprised by many of the results. Those around us are often more willing to share the truth when it won’t “cost them.”

Giving people around them the chance to say whatever they want to say anonymously would threaten many leaders. Although it is often painful to read what people say, I have yet to find a better way to become more self-aware and make positive changes to impact the whole church.

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Listening to Truthful Feedback

For years, I honestly believed I was a good listener. When people tried to tell me that I didn’t always pay attention to them, I’d dismiss them as being overly sensitive.

(Can you imagine a better example of not being a good listener? I didn’t even listen to what they were trying to tell me!)

Once I acknowledged that they might be right, I became open to learning the specific ways in which I might have communicated to others, making them feel that I didn’t value what they were saying.

I had to ask specific questions to get truthful feedback.

Had I asked, “You don’t think I’m a bad listener, do you?” I would not have gotten valuable feedback.

Instead, I asked a few trusted staff members, “Tell me three things I do that says, ‘I don’t value what you are saying’.”

They all said similar things: I often seem rushed or I’m checking my blackberry or not looking them in the eye. This specific feedback was very valuable to me.

To get specific feedback, try asking specific questions.

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Actions Verses Intentions

Have you ever noticed that it is easy to judge other people by their actions but judge ourselves by our intentions.

For example, if my neighbor didn’t return my tool he borrowed a year ago, I will probably think he didn’t care much about honoring me. But if I forgot to pay him back $5 that I owed him, I might let myself off because I was “planning on doing it,” but never got around to it.

It is extremely easy to become increasingly unaware of ourselves because we have good intentions on a subject but lack good follow through.

For over a year, I talked about mentoring certain staff members. Although I intended to do it, I had to cancel meetings over and over again for pressing issues. Without knowing it, I clearly communicated to them that they were not a priority. Because I “intended” to spend time with them, I thought they would understand.

We have to remember that others don’t know our intentions. Actions tell the real truth.

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Self-Perception

Someone said, “Perception is reality except for self-perception.” The first part of that statement is debatable, but the second part is unquestionably true. (Anyone who doesn’t believe it only needs to watch the tryouts of American Idol.)

Accurate self-perception is extremely difficult to obtain—especially for successful leaders.

Instead of becoming more aware of weaknesses and vulnerabilities, flourishing leaders can easily become increasingly blinded.

One would think that success draws wise advisors. Unfortunately, the opposite is often true. The higher one rises in any organization, the more likely others will tell them what they want to hear, rather than the truth.

This week we’ll talk about how to become increasingly self-aware so we can grow as leaders and as people.

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