by Ron Duty

It is like two sharpened ice picks boring into my ears where they will eventually converge in the center of my brain. You can only wish that the convergence will bring about the sweet release of deafness...at the very least. Alas, it is not to be. The torment must continue until the tragedy has played itself out and lies wheezing on the fraying indoor-outdoor carpet of the sanctuary.

What is the source of this black comedy? A sermon.

Who is the merciless culprit behind this audio assault? I am.

The crime is that  I am spewing enough sugary syrup and fluff from the pulpit to tar and feather half of the congregation.

There sits my faithful congregation, supportive and loving of their pastor, heads nodding like metronomes in agreement to the saccharin fountain that they have come to expect.

Where did it begin? I remember so clearly being the 19 year old new convert, who wanted so badly to see the very real Christ that I had encountered, to make real-life, real-time changes in others. Christ was gritty and edgy and that's what I knew people needed.

It seems like yesterday, as a young preacher, I was determined I wouldn't be sucked into the 'respectable, predictable, professionalism' I had seen in so many pastors. I would be Maximus as he stood scarred in the arena prepared to neither give nor ask for any quarter.

Maximus, slowly seems to have morphed into Willy Wonka. No longer a warrior wielding a sword and shield, ala Ephesians 6, rather I feel as if I spend my time trying to discover new sugary sweets to hand out to further endear me to my beloved congregation.

If Maximus lies on the padded turquoise pews surrounded by collection plates and hospice workers, he has no one to blame but himself. The analysis isn't difficult...only painful.

**We pastors too often find ourselves pulled into the gravity well of 'great sermon' . The new clerical sacrament is held at the back door as people smile and congratulates us for preaching our non-threatening, perky, motivational sugar stick.

**The new baptism is the 'water method' in our studies. Like water, we try to find the path of least resistance. It is work to take the Bible and connect it to gritty real life. We have all heard so much of the Bible slathered in honey that we automatically de-fault to the 'congregationally correct.'

**We take too lightly the example of Christ. There was a true Maximus! When others were ragging the fallen He encourages. When the starched and professional religionists were being hailed by the masses, He was warning against following their lead.

Jesus was loving, compassionate, yet edgy, honest, confrontational, and willingly, joyously ignorant of His approval ratings.

The world needs her preachers and pastors. Yet, the world doesn't need one more smooth professional oration without a stutter or mispronunciation. What she needs is a sermon that has blood and scars. One covered in the dirt of battle with the saline taste of tears and sweat in it's mouth.

Ron Duty  

Pastor, 1st Baptist in Alexandria,KY