Choosing to Preach Discussion

re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?

Posted by Yong Wang on Sep. 29, 2008 at 20:10

Can preaching be confrontational? This question first appeared a Yes to me. After all, the Scriptures have the function of rebuking (2 Timothy 3:16). Since preachers preach Bible, it makes sense that preaching can be confrontational. However, after reading the three sub-questions above, I have changed my idea. My answer to this question is: Preaching can be confrontational but it is not always appropriate.

A warlike approach to preaching is not appropriate. What is the preacher trying to achieve? To win over a fight or argument? To let the listeners submit to his or her authority? Even preacher chooses the confrontational style out of love for the listeners, the question is will the listener willingly sense and receive this kind of expression love. Definitely not! I doubt this is the best way to convince the listeners. What’s more, it happens primarily in the cognitive domain. Often, preacher may win the argument but the listener’s life will not change. God is not gloried.

I should not deny the fact that sometimes confrontational approach works well for certain person under certain conditions. The effect may not be shown right away but can be seen in the future. For example, people who have turned away from God and now is strongly against God, doing something to destroy God’s kingdom, often it involves spiritual warfare. A loving gentle approach may not work best under situation like this. Preaching should not be confrontational most of the time.

re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?

Posted by Teresa Lam Lam on Sep. 22, 2008 at 14:02

The Greek word for preaching is kerusso which means "to encounter", "to call out", to "stand up and raise your voice", calling people to attention to an authoritative message. By default "preaching is confrontational. But nowadays, people don’t like the preachers or teachers to raise their voice. Some of my Sunday School students will describe me as "yelling to them". The fact that nowadays the absolute truth is twisted requires us as preacher to be confrontational in our message. We need to proclaim the truth, like John the Baptist (Mat 3:1), apostle Paul (Acts 9:20).

Young people especially do not like to be told what is right. They want to have their own opinion. It is a spiritual battle. We need to speak the truth with love. We need to pray for wisdom and God’s revelation when we prepare and also when we deliver our message. The process is dynamic. We need the Spirt of God to fight the battle. Only Him can overpower the listeners. We are only the channel to be used by God. But we as believers are all called to preach by Jesus. Let us pray for the Spirit of God to fall upon us, anoint our mouth to preach the Good News. Lord, please help me to relate Your message to this generation effectively and profoundly.

re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?

Posted by Kevin O'Coin on Sep. 12, 2008 at 09:43

I think what we have to look at is what we mean by confrontation. The question posed speaks of confrontation with words like "overpowering" and "warlike." If this is the case, I could conceivably say yes, but with extreme reservations, knowing that I myself have never seen this done successfully, and in our humanness this kind of knife-edge balance between confrontation and bullying is almost too narrow to walk.

If, however, we think of confrontation differently, then not only can preaching be confrontational, but it must be. I like to think of confrontation as anything that poses an alternative pathway. I purposefully don’t use the word "option" because if all we are doing is giving someone a choice akin to their many other and equally-valid choices, or portraying God’s Word as a mere suggestion for their lives, then we are not preaching biblically. If, however, we present God’s counsel as the best way (realizing that some may call us arrogrant), then we are by nature being confrontational because God always calls us to something different. When we proclaim the counter-cultural, upside-down kingdom of God, we are putting a roadblock in someone’s way—it is done in love, but it still calls people to stop and turn around. Confrontation doesn’t have to mean war, but it means challenge, and that is the responsibility of any preacher who wants to honour the Scriptures.

re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?

Posted by George Bedlion on Nov. 07, 2007 at 16:44

There is something gritty, something tough about preachers who preach God’s word. This type of preacher is difficult to define, hard to create comprehensive descriptions of but you know him or her when you hear their words. I think there is a time to be gracious and tender as a teacher yet also a time to be confrontational, willing to battle in a loving way…. These types of preachers bring a gracious arsenal of holy confrontation and patience that, if called for, should be engaged. It reminds me of Jacob wrestling with the Angel of God all night until Jacob’s strength was spent and his hip out of place. Jacob wrestled, he strove with God all night for his blessing. And the Angel obliged, wrestling him until the only way to get Jacob to stop aside from killing Jacob was to injure him. He later became known as Israel, the one who strives with God. This seems warlike to me. Ecclesiastes says there is a time for war and a time for peace. The problem for preachers is knowing when to be on the offensive to confront and teach or when to be more passive, quiet, and tender.

re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?

Posted by Mike Keigley on Sep. 25, 2007 at 15:21

The prophets of the OT rarely shirked from their heavy messages. Jesus confronted those he loved and the Christian church was founded on the blood of the martyrs who believed that the message was greater than their own lives. Preachers should be sensitive to what God is saying to the congregation. This means listening and being in touch with need of the congregation. Preaching may well be like parenting. If your child is about to do something dangerous, you will respond with the appropriate response. At the basis of this response is love. Confrontational preaching is necessary if the preacher discerns form God that this may be necessary. This should not be the only type of preaching that preachers have in their repertoire. Imagine a parent who always shouted at their children even when they were not in danger.

re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?

Posted by Thomas Calamunce on Sep. 24, 2007 at 18:29

In Matthew 16:23 Jesus became confrontational with Peter when Peter said that Jesus would never be killed and then raised on the third day. Preaching can be confrontational. There are things in the Bible which are non-negotiable, and in order to assert these things certainly one of the ways to do this is through preaching. Perhaps this is not the best approach to winning people over to Christ but there are times when a believer needs to snap back into place and the only way this can be done is through loving confrontation. The bottom line is that preaching is a part of a SPIRITUAL war. Within the war there are battles which are waged. Maybe in preaching you don’t use your most potent and destructive weapons since the preacher does not know who is in the audience but weapons are none the less appropriate.

re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?

Posted by zachariah rippee on Jan. 20, 2007 at 12:55

First, I believe you don’t have to have a group to preach to. If you have one person who God has moved you to speak to, preach to them like you would preach to 100s. I believe that there are moments, moments when satan is lurking around, so twisted in our listeners hearts, that the only way we will uproot him is to be confrontational. But we need to remember that we are comfronting satan and sin, not the person whom God made, like he made you and me.

re: #2 - Can Preaching be Confrontational?

Posted by Jon Mair on Jan. 18, 2007 at 18:45

I think in preaching the idea of confrontation is not appropriate because it is such a one-way form of communication. Confrontation can be used in one on one or small group situations where there is opportunity for dialouge. If confrontation is used in preaching it pits the speaker against the audience and ends up simply being a ramming of information. When that happens the listener will often either shut off or storm out. This does nothing to reach that person but simply makes them upset. Therefore I think confrontation is an option just not for use in preaching situations.