Do not be a Tone-Deaf Preacher

Preaching is essential in the church no matter the season, the cultural context or the people. It is necessary because God has revealed himself through his word, and he has, throughout redemptive history, raised preachers to herald his word. As you read the pages of scripture, you find exhortations such as declare, prophesy, proclaim, tell, exhort, teach and preach. It becomes clear that God wants his revealed word faithfully declared to his people so that they are built up in the most holy faith.

If preaching is essential to God’s people, then training preachers is an urgent, necessary, and important task. Therefore, God’s people must be committed to preaching the word and raising preachers. One way we invest in preachers is by giving them constructive feedback, which brings me to a growing concern about preaching: what I call tone-deaf preaching. What are tone-deaf preachers,  you ask?

Well, these are preachers who just strike one cord—they play a one-stringed banjo. You have those who are all fire and brimstone. It doesn’t matter what their text is; they always find a way to thunder, scorch, and rebuke. These preachers have not really preached unless they are raining down grenades of rebukes. Sitting under this kind of preaching is always a miserable and hopeless trip to the mountain of guilt.

Then, on the other hand, you have the happy-go-lucky preacher. Who is all smiles and laughter. It doesn’t matter what text they are speaking from; they will always find a way to inspire and motivate. They want to leave their listeners feeling better, nice and confident about themselves.

The biblical preacher is called to preach the whole counsel of God’s word, which is sufficient for life and godliness and can thoroughly equip the Christian. As a result of preaching all of the scripture, the preacher will teach, reproof, correct and train. The biblical preacher, who is faithful to the text, will preach the point and tone of the text. For instance, there is a difference between preaching Psalm 23 and Psalm 14. Just like there is a difference in tone and posture in preaching Galatians and the way you would preach Ephesians. The text's tone and posture must be the preacher's tone and posture.

Secondly, the context and season of the people will sometimes determine the tone and disposition of the preacher or sermon. This is why it is essential for the preacher to know his people. There is a time to “admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak and be patient with all” (1 Thess 5:14). Congregations go through different seasons. Still, whatever the season, we can be confident that the word of God rightly preached is the tonic they desperately need.

When preachers insist on one tone in their preaching, they intentionally or unintentionally wrongly communicate that the bible is a one-tone book. In the process, they also suggest that there are situations and circumstances the scriptures do not and cannot address. The Bible is jubilant; it laments, confronts, corrects, instructs, declares woes, heals, uplifts and gives hope. Preaching over time must convey all these tones, depending on the text at a particular moment. This is particularly important because people experience all manner of circumstances, and it is imperative that they see, hear and feel the Lord speaking to them through his preached word. And the reality is that many people experience a lot of brokenness and misery in this fallen world. Daane rightly captures the state of most people’s hearts in the pews;

God only knows the sorrow and pain, the shame and hurt, the intolerable burdens, shattered experiences, crushed hopes and terrors of the spirit which lie in the hearts of those to whom we minister on Sunday morning. Such human wounds are not to be healed lightly, laughed off with the help of injections of humour from a pulpit personality whose model is Bob Hope or Woody Allen.

Preachers must emulate Christ, the master preacher known to be full of grace and truth. He understood the scriptures' meaning and conveyed their proper tone. No wonder he spoke one way with the seeking Nicodemus and another with the stiff-necked Pharisees. He strongly challenged the rich young ruler while showing compassion when reaching out to the Samaritan woman. He wept with Mary and Martha while rebuking Peter. He eased the disciple’s fears while answering and gently rebuking doubting Thomas at the same time.

Dear preachers, as we work hard to preach the main point of the passage, we must also preach the tone and spirit of the text and rightly apply it to the people's hearts.