The Restrained Pulpit

Preacher-illustrations, granted, appeal to a very narrow sliver of the population. Very narrow. We preachers often forget that our constituents are not immediately fluent in preacher-humor, preacher-anecdotes, and preacher-heroes. That being said, there is a pulpit-driven observation that may actually "land" with the rest of the population for a change; one that has been slow cooking for quite a while. The restrained pulpit, yet not repressed, is a mark of maturity.

Let me back up to explain. Based on cultural observation alone, it seems that ranting should be in the Bill of Rights somewhere. It's not. Freedom of speech is, but the freedom to express every opinion that bubbles to the surface at any given moment of time is not. So it figures that if the forefathers didn't write "ranting" into our code of inalienable rights, maybe God should have. He didn't. Yet just spending an hour or so in media-land it seems that should not only be a "right" to rant, but that it may even be unhealthy NOT to rant when the urge hits.

Get ticked off--tell every one on your friend list. Feel strongly--find a bumper sticker that captures the angst in sarcasm for everyone to read on I-40 who happens to be nearby. Disagree with a public official--don't send a letter to his office, but call in to any one of the the talk radio shows and let it rip behind the shield of quasi-anonymity.

The pulpit, however, is not a license to rant. It is not a soapbox or megaphone for the human preacher. It is Christ's. And for His unexplained reasons preaching remains His arguably old-fashioned, but clearly intentional, method of conveying the mind of God to the people. It may be concluded by the world as foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18), but human opinions must (and one day will) acquiesce to God's revelation--"for we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord" (2 Corinthians 4:5).

When I take the pulpit, under Christ, I must restrain my opinions so that the revelation of Christ may be proclaimed undiluted. Are there times when I would like to sling mud? You bet! Are there times when I would like to rally the people around my personal preferences? There have been those temptations, yes. But the simplicity of the gospel is the power. The restrained pulpit--restrained from human-based opinion-making (i.e. the Sunday morning version of ranting)--is wisdom. Paul, perhaps, said it best:

"And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

So, please forgive me if I rant! (No really ... please forgive me if this comes across as a rant of any sort!)