A Pulpiteers Props or a Heretic’s Horns?
November 20th, 2006 by JWIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or Via e-mail. Thanks for visiting!
Old ways die hard. So it is with those of us, who even though may still be youthful in our own right, refuse to let die the old ways and old paths once walked by the faithful and revealed to us by the word of God. And so it is with the flip side of the coin as well. It seems that those who would be false prophets today are acting on the same playbook of the false prophets of old….
[excerpt from part of an ancient scroll once used by the prophets of Baal and later the prophets of Ahab… Crudely translated into old English by the last scholar to have studied the scroll sometime in the 17th century…
…And beholdeth thou prophets of falsehood, if all else faileth thee, thou must findeth thee an certain prop with which to beholden thou listeners to thy cunning fables in great wonderment and consternation for if thine words doth cease to astonie the throngs, of a surety thine visual aid shall worketh in thine stead… (Seed for thou Spurious Soothsayers, four score methods for building thy reportoire of false prophecies, Scroll I, Article A, Section Cii)
end excerpt, our acknowledgements to the private imaginary library of Mr. J. W. Murdock]
Readeth thou onward dearest readers, and behold the consistency of the sensationalist pulpiteers of today with the false prophets of yesteryear….eth… –>
My good friend and scholar and above all, brother in Christ, Mr. Thomas Bloss preached a very good lesson this past Lord’s day that centered on 1 Kings Chapter 22. His lesson was not about false prophets, yet as he was reading from this chapter I could not help but be struck by something recorded there:
Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ “ And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the LORD will deliver it into the king’s hand.” 1 Kings 22:11,12
A little back story (and might I recommend reading the chapter for yourself as well?). This was during the time of the divided kingdom. Jehosaphat was the king over Judah and Ahab was the king over Israel. Jehosaphat went to Ahab for a visit and Ahab had designs on seeking Jehosaphat’s alliance in a war against Syria to take the lands of Ramoth Gilead from the rule of the Syrian king. Jehosaphat agreed to the alliance and then (as an afterthought) asked to inquire of the prophets about these plans.
So all of Ahab’s 400 prophets came forward to tell the two kings what a glorious victory awaited them… Jehosaphat was unimpressed. He asked Ahab, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of Him?” (verse 7). While a messenger went to seek this missing prophet, Ahab’s prophets, infested with a lying spirit (verse 22) continued to seek to turn the kings’ ears and attention upon them… one of these lying prophets pulled a little extra surprise out of his hat! He had a prop!
“Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for
himself” (verse 11)
How interesting a turn of events. Zedekiah felt that his words alone would not stand sufficient to prophecy before these kings. So what did he do? He reached for a prop. I wonder how ignorant Zedekiah must have looked prancing around the threshing floor before the gates of Samaria telling these men about how they were going to ‘gore’ their enemies into defeat and destruction… while wearing a pair of metal bull’s horns? It brings to the mind a very ridiculous picture, does it not?
How is it then, that some of our preachers, in the guise of preaching, often reach for props themselves? Words not good enough? Well I’ll bring in some produce as a visual aid, then surely the simpletons will understand… Short of descriptive prowess? No need to describe how small a mustard seed is, just bring in a jar of McCormick’s to toss about. Afraid the audience might forget just how important the cross was and is to them and you are unable to iterate such thoughts? No problem, just hand out some little crosses at the door, why not some WWJD bracelets, or some palm branches as the ‘reverend’ at my old Methodist stomping ground was wont to do?
Brethren, this looks every bit as silly as putting on a pair of horns. I believe that it belittles the audience, as if they cannot be made to understand your intent unless you bring out a visual aid for them. And perhaps even worse than that, it implies that you are not a good enough preacher to make your listeners understand… if this last one is the case, then perhaps the pulpit is not the proper place for you. When Jesus wanted someone to understand his meaning, he did not reach for props. He would TELL them about things that they did understand and then apply these things to His spiritual lessons. He called them parables. They were very simple yet very effective and surely we are capable of doing the same.
Perhaps one of the most chaffing parts of the ‘visual aid’ fad, is the ‘take one with you’ aspect. “Take this cross with you, keep it in your pocket so you’ll remember this lesson.” Again, my preaching brethren… if it takes a cheap prop in order for your audience to remember your sermon… perhaps the pulpit is not the place where you belong.
The connection seems clear to me, and hopefully this passage from the Old Testament will help to convince some of my brethren who are eager for the next new thing to sensationalize their preaching, to drop the prop and simply ‘utter with your tongue words that are easy to understand’ (1 Corinthians 14:9)
On a final note, King Ahab loved the words and antics of the false prophets, so much that he begged the true prophet of God, Micaiah, saying “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.” I wonder who more fault lies with, the preachers who strive to entertain and innovate, or the congregations that beg them to do it? Perhaps Garrett’s Creek will begin keeping our own prop in the entryway of our building… a box of Q-tips, so we can take care of any ‘itching ears’ before services begin and prepare ourselves to hear the truth, both pleasant and difficult parts, in all its beautiful simplicity.Still contending for the old paths every new day,
~JW, for thegospelfortoday.com
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November 20th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Wow. All i have to say to that is Amen. What excellent thoughts. It’s time to speak up for the truth. It’s sad how some people now want something “more” when it comes to worshipping God. They’re searching for some new thing. All we really need is the perfect word of God. Keep contending for the old and true faith and God Bless.
November 21st, 2006 at 9:43 pm
I don’t normally read these blogs; however, this particular article was brought to my attention, and I wish to respond. It is true that Jesus usually taught using parables, but there are instances in which He used visual aids to prove His point. An example is found in Matthew 22:15-22: Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Casar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.” Using the principle that you’re teaching, are we now going to remove the chalkboard and no longer use it as a visual aid? If not, where are we going to draw the line?
November 21st, 2006 at 11:14 pm
Terry, thanks for the comment. I had overlooked this instance of Jesus’ teaching when writing my post. Perhaps my focus should be on the intent of using such props. To me, it seems like sensationalizing and an insult to the audience’s intelligence. Interestingly, I believe Jesus used this coin as an affront to the intelligence of his would be ‘entanglers’. They thought they were smart enough to entrap Jesus in their schemes and he quite readily proved them wrong by grabbing a simple coin, surely this was a smack in the face to them. This is not what I want to accomplish when I strive to teach. I do not want to make enemies by taking this stance and I don’t wish to go through the list of everything in the church building and argue whether its a prop or not. The fact is, this is a recent phenomenon, our preachers have sufficed without props for many years and if we can accomplish getting our ideas across with words, why not take this route that we know to be 100% scripturally approved? ~JW
November 28th, 2006 at 1:20 am
A few months back, at a gospel meeting at Garrett’s Creek, Joe Hisle used a kernel of corn as a visual aid to illustrate his point. In doing so, he didn’t make me feel like a “simpleton”. I think it was an effective tool in that particular lesson, similar to illustrating the size of a mustard seed……just a thought….:-)
November 28th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
Jennifer,
Thank you for submitting this comment, you have really got me to thinking and (contrary to popular opinion :) I like to think. I want to first say that I do not condemn preachers just for the use of ‘props’ but I do think it is an unnecesary and often distracting addition. I love and respect Joe very much, (just as I do other preachers who use props in the pulpit) and do not believe him to be a ’sensationalist’ preacher. I do believe all the same however, that he could have made his point just as well without the visual aid. I’m just wondering if many aren’t trying to find ways to introduce props into their teaching where they are wholly unneeded just to have something ‘new’ to do in the pulpit, and if this is the case, what will be the next progression once this becomes mainstream? I can see that I went to far with a blanket condemnation of visual aids, certainly most preachers, myself included, use textual aids like a blackboard or powerpoint presentations. I can see that a visual aid MIGHT possibly be warranted on some occasions, but for the most part, I think we should stick to what Jesus and the apostles did for the most part, which was to illustrate their teachings with parables and examples. Thanks again for helping me to focus my thoughts on this matter. ~JW