Choosing to Preach Discussion

re: #19 - How-To Sermons

Posted by Kallie Hutton on Aug. 25, 2010 at 18:48

I’m not sure that how-to sermons create consumer Christians, but I think when preach too often they create lazy, dissatisfied Christians. How-to sermons generally offer a few basic steps to "become better" or to "fix you problem". after listening to a few of these, you begin to realize that you’re being fed the quick fix and when life is complicated and the steps don’t work out or they take time and effort to achieve, Christians become lazy and dissatisfied. I’m sure pragmatic sermons can be done well, but I have to be honest and say I haven’t seen them done well very often.

re: #19 - How-To Sermons

Posted by Tim Stewart on Dec. 07, 2009 at 18:42

This "topical" style is probably my default setting as a Bible student and preacher.
I like to classify verses into Theological topics, clustering them into coherent and somewhat comprehensive collections of information.
Such a practice can yield good topical sermons that answer practical questions, but I think that such sermons are not enough on their own.

"How to" sermons resemble many books that you can buy, and it’s possible for the preacher to begin to sound like a concordance. ("Here’s another verse about hope…")

From a Biblical point of view, "How to" sermons can be too broad and shallow, while a more focused, exegetical sermon might give the listeners something deep that they wouldn’t have seen on their own.

I think "How to" sermons are an excellent way to engage the audience and to deal with a practical, pastoral issue in the church. But, without an effective life connection, it is just shallow information.
I don’t think such sermons create "consumer Christians" or "selfish believers" – they demonstrate how the Bible applies to their lives.

But, to exclusively employ such sermons might lead believers to ignore Biblical context, to only look to the Bible during emergencies, and to become dependent on others in their study of the Bible. Exegetical, text-focused sermons, in contrast, can equip people to study the Word on their own.

I think the choice between topical sermons and a textual series will be a constant tension for any conscientious pastor.

re: #19 - How-To Sermons

Posted by Ryan McDonald on Mar. 01, 2009 at 18:24

Yes and No. I believe how to sermons suffer from more than just consumer christianity in that I can’t tell you how to in your life that’s the job of the Spirit and yourself to figure out. But I believe that all too often what we create with this is half hearted christians who have a set of rules to follow and therefore don’t need to seek out God for their answers on how to do whatever. I also think it allows what should be mature christians to remain infantile they never have to figure out how to do things for themselves they are merely told how to do it step by step. Not to mention when the how to inevitable fails for some people i.e. they don’t succeed in buisness it makes them doubt their faith because the pastor told them if they did these things they would succeed. So I am against these sermons because yes they create selfish christians but they also create other problems as well

re: #19 - How-To Sermons

Posted by Chris Payne on Dec. 08, 2008 at 17:54

I would have to yeah-no. I do not think we need to create “consumer Christians”, I believe that society has already done that. With all the podcast sermons, dvd series, and radio broadcasting people are always comparing what you have to say and the way you do it. So to say that we create consumers by preaching “how-to” sermons is a little like saying lions have sharp teeth. People are going to consume whether we sell them how to’s or not. Here is a thought maybe we should teach how to not consume, and see if they buy that. When we preach about Jesus and the life that he calls us to live would it not be a good thing if people consume that, they buy that and take it home?

re: #19 - How-To Sermons

Posted by Jason Harder on Nov. 07, 2008 at 13:03

Are we not all “consumers Christians” at some point in our lives? Sure we need to “stop drinking milk and start eating solid food” but there is a point in a new believers life when the “how to messages” are needs. With out them the new believer will be swamped with the supposed does and don’t of a new faith. As a preacher I need to be able to walk along side of them and teach them there is more to the Christian faith than consumerism. So, I believe their needs to be a season of “how to messages” which need to be preached but their needs to be growth in the believers so the messages can go beyond “how to” into “what can I do”.

re: #19 - How-To Sermons

Posted by Sally Peng on Oct. 16, 2007 at 01:55

I think the “how-to” sermons do not necessarily create “consumer Christians.” The goal of pragmatic sermons is to change the lives of the listeners. It serves the ultimate goal of preaching the word of God. God’s people need to hear practical principles and advice for their daily lives based on the truth in the Bible. The role of a pragmatic preacher is to connect the needs of the listeners and the revelation from God found in the biblical truths. In this sense, pragmatic sermons themselves do not create selfish believers. However, if the sermon is designed to catering to the listeners’ needs, it is a dangerous thing. Preachers are the spokespersons of God; hence they should be faithful to God’s will. It is selfish of the preacher to just speak what the listeners want to hear instead of what God intends to tell them.

re: #19 - How-To Sermons

Posted by dave ellis on Feb. 13, 2007 at 23:21

I have heard a few to many sermons like this. And maybe that is the problem, we as preachers need to mix it up a bit or preach integratively. How to sermons seem to cater to the quick fix type, but it never seems to really stick. I find that when we really challenge people to think, when we dig into a passage, as a listener you are drawn into thinking more about what this means to your life, when you get it, its far more easy to then put that into practise in your life. Some times people just try to put into practice the how to’s with out really understanding the why. Another thing about how to sermons, it causes the listener to look to the preacher more for the answers while those that dig deeper into a passage model the importance of seeking out anwers in the scriptures. When was the last time you went back to your sermon notes for a how to sermon to help you with a issue you are facing. When our focus is more on a passage, often people will remember that passage, because you focused more on it, and they can go back to that passage and rediscover what God desires to say to them.

re: #19 - How-To Sermons

Posted by HeeJin Kim on Feb. 07, 2007 at 17:52

There is no reason to doubt that the church cannot be a ‘life-design’ clinic or a place where a ‘quick solution’ is prescribed. However, it is impossible for the church to supply any powerful medicine to listeners just by one or two sermons in reality. In this sense, "How-to" sermons might rather be considered as an effort to share the sufferings and agonies that people are undergoing in their real lives. As we may realize when we find that there are 46 "How-to" titles – including subtitles – even in the book of Robinson and Larson, the problem is caused by the content that follows the "How-to" phrase, rather than by "How-to" sermons themselves. Seeing that the majority of today’s world reject the idea of absolute truth, and this “truth-decay” is the root of all that’s wrong in our society (Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Title: Evaluate Yours with Four Questions), "How-to" sermons give us the opportunity to interest them in truth. I totally agree with Rick Warren in that we have the most important message in the world, which changes lives, and also that showing how a biblical principle meets a need can create a hunger for more truth.

re: #19 - How-To Sermons

Posted by Michelle Young on Feb. 05, 2007 at 12:11

I agree with Melissa in her response. Further, is it really possible to always have a set formula for Christian living? Read your Bible daily, Keep the commandments, Attend Worship on Sunday, then you will be good. Doesn’t this sound legalistic? I think the "How-to" sermons are catchy in that people in general want a quick fix when in deep trouble. These kind of title sermons will attract attention, so in a way it’s okay to use it. But in reality, how many things can be easily fixed by doing step one to step three? There are so many variables in between every step. Listeners cannot be led to believe in quick-fix answers esp. in the arena of Christian living.

re: #19 - How-To Sermons

Posted by Melissa Lane on Jan. 30, 2007 at 23:19

I am not sure that the problem with the how-to sermon is that they create consumer Christians. How-to sermons have their place, and can be incredibly helpful, but I have concerns when they are the primary form of preaching. The trouble is that when the how-too sermon becomes normative, the church becomes a "how-to" clinic, a spiritual self-help location that dishes out primarily easy answers and relatively easy steps for sometimes incredibly difficult problems. People may come to church, get the "fix" and go home, only to try the steps and become disillusioned when they don’t seem to make the difference they hoped for. It also runs the risk of being baby food rather than food for growing mature adults.