Religious Feelings and Preaching (2)

— continued —

Experiential preaching

Although experiential preaching is for some people an old-fashioned term, this sort of preaching is as current today as it was in former times. Experiential preaching means that the preaching does not consist simply of dry exegesis (that is, interpretation of a Bible text). We do not mean to say that exegesis is dry by definition, for if the Scriptures are truly explained, the Word in its explanation is alive and powerful. What we want to say is that a portion of Scripture should not only be explained grammatically and in its historical context, but it must also be interpreted according to spiritual life and directed to the hearts of the hearers.

This is not a simple task when dealing with so many different characters, spiritual experiences, and levels of intelligence. It is especially difficult because people have so many different questions. The preacher must therefore know his people in order to answer their questions, and he himself must partake of the spiritual contents of Scripture. He is surely “shooting in the dark” when he himself lacks a prayer life and does not have a knowledge of self, God, and Christ. We hasten to add that the Almighty God can use imperfect preachers to work perfect salvation, for if this were not true, all preachers could better stop preaching.

We want to ask special attention for the purpose of describing the experiences of faith in preaching. These experiences must be preached, because the preacher should make spiritual knowledge, experiences, joys, and sorrows real if he wants his hearers to understand him. Not that the preacher should become wrapped up in relating his own experiences and those of others, but in order to understand the message, it is important that he tell his hearers what the effect of the message will be like.

The essence is that the preaching sheds biblical light upon experience, in terms of both the biblical experience of faith and the experience of God’s children. Things then become tangible and lose their vagueness, and the message is better understood. The advantages of such practical, experiential preaching are that true believers recognize themselves and are comforted, pseudo-believers hopefully see what they miss, while others feel the need for receiving a true experience. It is clear, of course, that the light of the Holy Spirit remains necessary to understand the Word.

In order to provide leadership, it is necessary to have some authority, but it is especially important to be trusted. This also applies to preaching. When the hearer notices that his deepest problems are understood, and that the preacher stands, as it were, next to him, he will listen more eagerly for the solution to the distress portrayed by the preacher. That is the reason why the preacher must describe feelings and experiences from the Word of God.

How good it is for those who think that their sins are too numerous to be forgiven, when the preacher reveals that he himself also knows about that and shows them what the Scriptures say about this. It is beneficial for the hearer when the preacher describes feelings of being forsaken by God and feelings of our total inability to lead a holy life before God. It builds trust when the man on the pulpit realizes that not all of his hearers have advanced as much as they would like.

The danger is that as soon as the hearer feels he is being understood, he settles into a comfort zone without seeking the real thing. It must be made clear that religious experiences per se do not make authentic faith. Pseudo-believers, too, experience things. The only foundation for salvation is Christ. Nevertheless, the description of both joyful as well as sad experiences is useful in relating Scripture’s answers to our many questions.

As mentioned earlier, describing biblical-spiritual experiences is also useful to prevent superficiality. When people hear what is experienced in true faith, they find out that believing is something more than just “committing yourself to God,” more than an intellectual acceptance of the gospel, and more than experiencing a beautiful text when you feel down. When people do not actually know anymore how a person is converted unto God, a devastating superficiality sets itself into the congregations.

Preachers ought to show from Scripture what the essence of faith is, without reverting to rigid schemes.

Without describing experiences from Scripture, this is impossible. Unfortunately, there are people who think they are Christians because they had a prayer answered and they experienced that God took care of them, and on that basis alone they trust in Him. In fact, this can be experienced in other religions as well, and this is not scriptural faith! There is much ignorance among church-going people, and that is the very reason why it is so necessary to explain what the Scripture says about the true experience of faith. May the Almighty God grant this to become a true experience of faith!

Describing the experiences of faith can also be inviting, because by doing so it becomes clear what the purpose of repentance and faith is. When a door-to-door peddler offers his wares for sale, but he does not open his suitcase, I am not encouraged to buy anything. Even when he tries to proclaim with fervor that his towels and his spools of thread are very good and of superior quality, and when he attempts to persuade me that he is offering me an excellent deal, he cannot really convince me if he keeps his suitcase shut. A door-to-door peddler — you do not often see them anymore today — is well advised to show the wares which he is offering. He must give the people an opportunity to feel the cloth and see the colors. He does not have to say much when so doing, for soon the people will ask the price.

A preacher, in the same manner, must show what the purpose of faith is, what comfort can be found in faith, and what the experiences of faith are for God’s children. He must not only recount the experience of God’s displeasure over sin, but he must also speak about the true comfort in the lives of God’s children and about the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. That leaves an impression and arouses interest.

Also here, the preacher cannot do this without describing feelings. There is, as a matter of fact, more to experiential preaching than the description of the experiences of God’s children. It is a preaching from the heart, providing answers to essential questions, proclaiming the gospel of free grace, and concretely describing specific sins. It is a deep-rooted persuading to lead a holy life, and an encouragement in the strife. We have spoken about these points before.

Weeping stones

When you visit caverns in various places in our country, and you see the dripstone formations, called stalactites and stalagmites, you will notice that this limestone is moist. Visitors are not permitted to touch them, but you can see the water glisten and drip. They are hard as stone, but wet. We can use this picture to describe people who are easily moved to tears, but whose hearts are as hard as stone. When the minister, in his sermon, touches the feelings of his hearers, such people are moved, but there is no sorrow for sin, no repentance, no genuine change.

It is, of course, pleasant for a preacher to notice that his sermon has some effect. He prefers to see people who are moved, rather than people who sit there with hard and disinterested looks on their faces. He is therefore tempted to arouse emotional feelings in his hearers, and he can do that by using gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, and by speaking intensely. However, as long as he moves the people, he is only making “weeping stones.”

There is a vast difference between whether we have been saved by a minister or by God Himself. The Lord does not save by semantics, but by the contents of the words. The Word itself, the clear language of Scripture, is, by the empowerment of God’s Spirit, a blessing for the people and leads to conversion.

The prophet Zechariah knew that it was not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord (Zechariah 4:6). Let the hearers beware not to draw a mistaken conclusion from the fact that a preacher can move them. Such a hearer may not receive more than general religious feelings. It is with good reason that men such as T. Hoekstra made the condition that office-bearers should study psychology. I also remember reading in Brakel that members of the congregation who are under the preaching of pastors who are very good at arousing feelings should not attach any value to their tears. Confessing very serious sins can be done with many tears. Subsequently, there will be a feeling of relief, but this emotion should not be confused with the joy of faith.

Preachers should not try to do the work of the Holy Spirit themselves, but be modest and humble, without affecting the emotions too much. We know that when a mother weeps, the children will also quickly begin to cry. Why? This is because it is very moving when someone who is close to us becomes emotional. It is also possible that, during the preaching, emotions are passed on without the hearers knowing why they are so moved. It can be a very pleasant experience to have been stirred, but if it is not clear what the exact reasons are, the value of such emotions is nothing.

Let me say it in a stronger manner: it is dangerous, because the hearer leaves the church richer than when he or she entered, but true humility is missing. It is easy to be moved by the minister, rather than by what is written in the Word. It may be an exaggeration to call it demagoguery, but there is a danger that the preacher makes a direct appeal to the feelings, whereas he should have enlightened the understanding.

It goes without saying that preachers ought to speak with warmth and feeling about sin and grace. It is even a must, as we have seen before. Preaching should not be standoffish, aloof, and cold, and it must be clear that preachers should not be reading automatons, but must show themselves, on the pulpit, to be people of flesh and blood. However, it is much more necessary that the Holy Spirit causes the preacher to experience what he may pass on, so that the message is sensed and does not come across as simply book learning.

— to be continued —

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