One minute grits, now the 8 minute sermon!
I was really amused to read that the Pope has recommended that all of the Catholic Church's priests and deacons shorten their sermons, called homilies, to 8 minutes. The Pope reasons that people have short attention spans, so priests should get to the point quickly. He made their job even harder because he also recommended that their sermons address the issues and concerns of the day; all in eight minutes.
One priest in Ireland took it one step further. He has cut the sermon out altogether. He offers his parishioners a full 15 minute worship, without the sermon; attendance doubled.
Eight minutes won't won't work among evangelicals. It certainly won't work among traditional Black Baptists like myself. It sometimes takes us 8 minutes to read the text and say, "The Lord has been good to us; better than we have been to ourselves."
An eight minute sermon? What will that do to the people who can only sleep at church? It will ruin their sleep! Those who send texts during the sermon won't have enough time to complete their conversations?
On the other hand those who actually come to hear a word from the Lord could be cheated. They blocked out several hours for their worship experience, the highlight of which is "A word from the Lord." Some drive long distances, wait in traffic and undergo severe weather for the expressed purpose of hearing "The Word." Obviously, there are times that they are relieved to receive a "quickie" but most prefer that their minister would give them a full serving.
In many black rural churches a deacon will yell out, "Take your time, Reverend, take your time."
Somehow the appeal of the 8 minute sermon is lost on those who truly want to hear an inspired message from heaven. These are the faithful who come to worship and praise, but dare not leave until they learn from God's watchman, the thoughts God has put on his heart for them; however long it takes.
They are like the people in Isaiah 21:11-12 who asked, "He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come."
We all want to hear from the watchman who stands on the wall of our future, what will the night bring; is there hope for the coming morning?
Wouldn't it be a shame if just before the pastor came to the part of the sermon that offered us hope and inspiration that he looked at his watch and said, "Sorry, 8 minutes have passed; that's it for today."
8 minutes sounds like a great idea, but on second thought won't serve any purpose whatsoever.
When the quickie becomes what's regular then the next alternative is to have no word at all.
Some would like that..
I wouldn't.
1 comment:
I'm getting to the point to where I'm close to cutting announcements, greeting guests, and even long devotions to have MORE time for the Word. They can read announcements on the bulletins, on the big screen, or by the texts we send. Half of the time the ones you assume are visitors may be members who just haven't been to church! lol It's so formatted and then we put a limit on the delivery of the Word. Church should be Worship, Offerin, and the Word. All the rest are just things we have added that prolong the real reason we come. I love this blog because it simply exhibits how people will take the Word completely out of everything if you let them. We are WATCHMEN. What is the purpose of Watching on behalf of the people if you don't have enough time to tell them what's been shown to you? (Great Post!)
Post a Comment