Ben Wink has left a new comment on your post "Nominated for Worst Sermon Ever. Worse Than Ski an...":
There seems to be an element of whining here as well. I believe that no one ever said that the life of the minister was supposed to be easy.
How can one encourage activity in the church when your own pastor belittles the work volunteers can do? Picking weeds and shoveling is nothing a PASTOR should do. What self-respecting minister of the Word would do that? Oh no. But you over there...the maroon that didn't learn Greek...grab a weedwhacker! Everyone's a minister...except when there's gardening to do because I can't be bothered with it, I'm saving souls.
Guilt through the Gospel. That should be a training series title. I heard it so often in quickly conceived half-hearted sermonettes from MLC, the high school after high school.
Where does it end? "You didn't buy an Easter lily. So our church is that much less beautiful in celebration of Christ's resurrection. So visitors are effected that much less by our flowered decorations on the altar. So they seem to doubt the Easter message because of the lack of lilies. So you've caused that person to fall away from the message that would've saved them from hell. I hope you're happy, soul-damner! I don't have time to bring flowers, I'm saving souls!"
Sounds ridiculous right? Is it that far off from what some congregations hear everyday? What should motivate a Christian? The Word in Law and Gospel motivates. Christ motivates. The Holy Spirit motivates. The Means of Grace motivate. Pulpit whinings turn people off. The only thing missing was asking for a handout at the end, because that would have sadly made it even more typical.
***
GJ - I heard a sermon like that in homiletics at the Sausage Factory, when I was there.
The senior said:
"Do you know why our congregation is not growing? It is because you are not out there witnesses. Statistics show that the churches that grow do so because the members are out witnessing..."
I knew that was straight out of the Shrinker books. Balge was appalled and said so. Of course, his own colleagues were teaching it.
I believe the speaker is the one who left Lutherdom altogether and opened a storefront church for healing.
I know that many of the students in 1987 were being brain-washed by Valleskey and others. After the year was over, a full week was devoted to CG propaganda. Soon after, I was expected to attend Kelm's School of Enthusiasm.
