We are on vacation enjoying a week of lake-life with my folks, and a neighbor’s high-speed internet lured me online briefly last night. I came across a very short video featuring a few thoughts shared by our friend, John Goldingay, on what concerns him about the church today. Listening to John in this video reminded me of another esteemed Fuller prof, Miroslav Volf, speaking to our class one Monday afternoon, growing animated as he described what went on in the pulpits of most churches he encountered in the area. I remember perfectly clearly the way his blue eyes blazed when he said that we would be better off if the sermon were scrapped altogether and the Scriptures simply read aloud, big chunks of them at a time.
This clip is precious to me beyond words. Thank you so much for posting.
Thanks for this, Erika.
thank you for this. thank you.
I agree. And at the church I participate in all the sermons are conversational – we all participate in struggling with the text and no one person’s interpretation dominates or gets a 45 minute soapbox. It’s more work for us all, but one cannot discern the truth of Christianity by one’s self or without work – this church also includes people who do not identify as Christian and that also contributes to the conversational/dialogical aspect of engaging the good news in the sermon.
I encourage us all to really try it in our churches – to practice what Volf and Goldingay suggest.