Homiletics (5): Understanding the context of our preaching

Ministers have received authority to preach the gospel, but that message is delivered in various contexts. Our sermons need to meet the members where they are.

The ‘world of meaning’ of the gospel must interact and inform the ‘world of meaning’ of our members. We need a good understanding of the profile of the congregation, as well as their social, political, economic, and cultural contexts, and especially, the ‘influencers’ or ‘meaning makers’ that shape their thinking and lived realities. An important principle is that it is not just what we preach, but how we preach the content of the gospel. Because … who is listening?

A method with biblical roots

We can begin with Jesus. When He spoke to the people, He used images and meanings the people lived in and could relate to (e.g. Galilean agriculture, fishing, etc.), and in this manner His audience could understand and apply the message of God’s kingdom in their own lives.

Apostle Paul preached the gospel to a diversity of people, but he also understood that he could not communicate the gospel in a ‘one size fits all’ manner. He said, ‘to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews.’ Also, ‘to those who are without law, as without law … to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some’ (1 Corinthians 9:20-22).

Chief Apostle Schneider also referred to the notion of ‘inculturation’, where faith is seeded and developed using the means and constitution of that particular culture (DSG SE 4/2017, p. 8). This is exactly what contextual preaching aims to achieve.

The impact of contextual preaching

One of the aims of preaching is that when members, including ministers, leave the church after a service and return to their social contexts, that their faith is the means by which they interpret and live their reality. This is important, because when our members leave church, does the divine service experience and sermon equip and inform them to deal with the challenges and questions they face in their respective contexts?

Are they competent children of God and witnesses for Christ? Can their faith inform them to live authentically and with conviction? Are sermons informed and persuasive enough that members abandon contradictory values and cultural trends that typify their respective social contexts? Can we create a coherent worldview, in where what they live ‘outside’ and experience ‘within’ the church form a meaningful whole? Can ministers say the same things for themselves? A life that is orientated towards Christ does not consist of isolated compartments (cf. Galatians 2:20). 

We need to teach our members a worldview (the Kingdom of God) that is compelling, informed, relevant, empowering, liberating, and transformative.

‘Influencers’ and ‘meaning makers’

There are so many possible ways that members and their ‘world of meaning’ can be influenced. For example, there are dominant cultural narratives and values. There are popular speakers and social media, tele-evangelists and faith healers, ‘prophets’, the entertainment and publishing industries, etc. The church is but one voice in a sea of many clamouring for people’s attention.

When we prepare a sermon, important questions need to be asked:

1. What meanings have this produced in the minds of people?
2. What is the relationship of these meanings to the gospel?
3. Which meanings can be affirmed?
4. Which meanings can be challenged, corrected, or complimented?

Think of the Apostle Paul, and how his encounter with an altar ‘to the unknown god’ gave him an entry point to proclaim the gospel to the philosophers and members of the Areopagus in Athens (Acts 17:23). 

A congregation profile

In addition to the above considerations, we need to understand the profile of the congregation. What is the percentage of brothers versus sisters? How many seniors, youth and children? How many are married, single parents, or unemployed? How many with disabilities? What level of education do they have? 

Depending on our member’s socio-cultural contexts and the specific congregational profile, it becomes clear that members will ‘hear’ and respond differently to the preaching of the gospel. It depends on their way of knowing, being, and doing. A person socialised in a Western context will ‘know’ differently to a person socialised in an African or Eastern context. People living in poverty will ‘know’ differently to someone who is not, etc. This sets the parameters for their way of being and doing. 

Ministers face the challenge to proclaim the gospel in diverse contexts, and to make it even more challenging, in a world that is rapidly changing. Servants of the word need to connect with the members in order to remain relevant. ‘Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?’ (Matthew 24:45).

The unity of the faith

Even though preaching occurs in a bewildering variety of contexts, ministry is given ‘for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:11-13). 

Preaching supports the Apostle ministry in preparing the bride of Christ. Our identity ‘in Christ’ is an alternative way of knowing, being, and doing in the world, centred on God’s revelation in Christ. The gospel must be delivered in such a way where it connects with, and transforms the ‘world of meaning’ of our members. Ultimately, it is for everyone to acquire ‘the mind of Christ’ (Philippians 2:5).

Photo: Thiago – stock.adobe.com

About the author

Markus Cromhout (born 1972) is a theologian at the New Apostolic Church Southern Africa. He is active in his congregation as an Evangelist. He studied at the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Pretoria and obtained his doctorate in New Testament Studies. In addition to scientific publications, he also writes popular science. He conducted seminars on the subject of “Homiletics” and provides weekly background videos.