As a youth minister I am disheartened to hear the criticisms of postmodern sermons. I do not see why the only effective way to communicate the love of Jesus and the truth of the Bible is through 40-minute exposition. There is certainly nowhere in Scripture that says 40 minutes of biblical exposition is the only way to go. I do not see why some say that those who try to communicate God’s truth in different teaching methods are somehow compromised and not being obedient to their call.
As a minister of the gospel I try to minister as Jesus did. One thing that Jesus did was meet people where they were. With some He lectured from the Scriptures. With others He used parables. I see a lot of similarities with Jesus’ use of parables with some of the things that postmodern preachers are doing. They both used cultural and familiar things to communicate a spiritual truth. How is Jesus illustrating the love of the Father by telling the story of the Prodigal son and doing a drama before a sermon all that different? If a non-Christian comes to church and sees something familiar that better illustrates the truth of the Bible how is that wrong?
If using things that are familiar, such as art, drama, contemporary music or film clips help better communicate God’s truth to the people that I am ministering to, then I am going to do it. In doing this, I am not failing in my call, I am being obedient to it.
Eric Sexton
Gadsden, Ala.
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