Preacher, keep yourself from idols

PREACHER, KEEP YOURSELF FROM IDOLS
By Derek Tidball
IVP. 208 pages. £8.99.
ISBN 978-1-84474-496-1 (out January 21 2011)

‘Preacher, keep yourself from idols.’ It is a stark warning, and one that Derek Tidball has used as the basis for his latest book.

EN: What do you think are the idols that preachers are particularly prone to worshipping?

DT: I identify 12 idols, including the sermon. They can be grouped into those which arise from within those of us who are called to preach (the idol of ‘the pulpit’, authority and popularity), those that arise from the age (the idols of success, entertainment, novelty and secularism), for the task (oratory and immediacy) and from the wider context of ministry (professionalism, busyness and familiarity).

EN: In what ways do the members of churches perhaps make this worship by preachers more likely, or more acceptable?

DT: It’s always possible, of course, for congregations to aid idolatry by their adulation of the sermon or the preacher. Big conferences can especially feed a preacher’s ego and create personality cults. Having said this, congregations should not see it as their ministry to cut the preacher down to size. Good preachers who faithfully apply the word of God in a relevant way deserve encouragement and gratitude, responses which reflect the fruit of the Spirit.

EN: What effect does worshipping these idols have on the churches listening to that preacher speak?

DT: Their eyes are directed to the idol, rather than the Lord. Preachers can become like a best man who draws attention to himself rather than the groom. Like John the Baptist, we should know our place and point only to Christ.

EN: Why are we, as a church, so unwilling to challenge our preachers on their idol worship?

DT: There are several different answers because we are a diverse church. First, I’m not sure the church as a whole is unwilling to challenge preachers. There are many churches where preaching is not given the respect it should have. Secondly, some sections of the evangelical community seem to think they’re going to be saved by the number of sermons they’ve heard! More seriously, though, many do still show a deference to the ‘authority’ who speaks from the pulpit and do not feel equipped to challenge them.

EN: Some preachers gain their sense of identity through their work for the Lord, rather than from their relationship with the Lord of the work. Isn’t it also true that it is not just their identity they find in their ministry, but they also get their ego needs, for recognition, admiration, etc. — met through their work?

DT: Yes. The temptation is not unique to preachers. Many people in other work face similar temptations. What makes it different for preachers, perhaps, is that it is a very personal calling and we’re speaking to voluntary congregations, not captive audiences. It’s hard not to play the church equivalent of the ratings game played by broadcasters. Only security in the Lord, pure motives and clarity about one’s sense of calling, can combat the temptation.

EN: Are preachers susceptible to certain kinds of idolatry at certain stages of their lives and ministry?

DT: Yes. Younger preachers may particularly be prone to over-inflate the value of their preaching or want always to preach the grand sermon which is full of homiletic pyrotechnics, rather than being content to bring a more modest word from the Lord, whereas the more practised preacher may well be prone to a tired professionalism. The kinds of temptation to which we’re vulnerable is also affected by our personality rather than our professionalism.

EN: What steps should preachers take to keep themselves from idolatry, and to recognise it in their own hearts and lives?

DT: There is need for regular self-examination before the Lord about one’s motives and the exercise of one’s calling. The Holy Spirit, in co-operation with our consciences, will often shine his light on the areas where we are vulnerable to temptation.

EN: Would a healthy and large dose of self-knowledge be of use?

DT: Absolutely. It’s hard to read ourselves as other do, so most of us need to train ourselves in self-awareness, and perhaps have a group of close friends who will be honest with us. And it is often the most godly and sensitive preachers who feel chastened at the least criticism or unmasking of sin. I have sometimes, only half-jokingly, said: ‘If you think this sermon is for you, it probably wasn’t. If you think this sermon was for someone else, it was probably meant for you’. But when you unmask 12 idols, there are few of us who won’t have to admit we’ve bowed down to at least one of them.

Derek Tidball, former principal of the London School of Theology, will be speaking on the Glory of Jesus at Lee Abbey from January 24-28. He says: ‘The church has become preoccupied with itself, its strategies, its mission, its programmes, its gifts, its resources and ideas. I’m really concerned that we have become the centre of attention rather than Christ. So, we’re going to look at Jesus through the lens of John 1.14 and ask the question, if the early disciple saw his glory, as one full of grace and truth, how can we see the glory of Jesus today with the help of John’s Gospel?’