Preachers, perhaps more than other church leaders, ought to recognize that the way we communicate is just as important as the content of our message. I've found that the insidious tentacles of consumerism are entangled not in the obvious content of a sermon, but in the subtle choices the preacher makes regarding how he or she communicates the message.

A sermon filled with prosperity gospel values is an obvious capitulation to consumer ideals - putting the believer at the center of the cosmos as the recipient of God's blessing and relegating Christ to a "divine commodity" to be plundered and exploited for personal gain. But those of us far from the propriety gospel camp may subtly communicate the same idea in less heavy-handed ways.

For example, early in my preaching ministry an older pastor advised me to "always preach positive," because people won't stand for a negative sermon. He gave the Ten Commandments as an example. Rather than preaching "You shall not murder" (which is negative), he advised me to preach "The goodness and beauty of life" (a more positive message). While the positive statement is undeniably biblical and true, God in his unfathomable wisdom chose to issue this command in Exodus in the negative - "You shall not!" We cannot simply take the content of Scripture as inspired and dismiss the forms as not.

But what concerned me more than disregarding the negative tone of God's commandment, was the motivation behind "preaching positive." It's rooted in the desire to not discomfort our hearers too much. Taken too far, this mindset can result in the religious consumer being the final arbiter of what, and how, we preach, rather than God, his inspired Word, and the ecclesiastical authority to whom we submit. Consumerism is ultimately an issue of discipleship and lordship. Whose desires, interests, and expectation will rule? Christianity calls us to surrender ourselves in submission to Christ the King - "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Consumerism forms consumers to place their personal desires and expectation above all else. When we step into the pulpit, are we helping people surrender more to Christ, or reinforcing the default setting of our culture that says they (our listeners) are the center of all things?

One of the consequences of consumerism's grip on much of the church has been the loss of prophetic voices in our pulpits. Alan Hirsch, Dwight Smith, and others have written about the exodus of prophets (those who bring correction to God's people) from the church. Like John the Baptist, these voices have been banished to the wilderness - or the ivory tower of academia - where few can hear their call to repentance, surrender, and renewal. They make us too uncomfortable, and when attracting a large crowd is the definition of a successful ministry, those pastors with prophetic inklings are never going to make the cut.

That being said, there is hope. I believe a lot of folks - particularly the younger generation of evangelicals - are longing for preaching that moves beyond the positive. They recognize that sometimes the only way to reach the positive is by traversing the negative - that the only way to new life is through the cross. I believe preaching, at its best, should inspire. It should pull away the curtain of shadow and darkness that covers our eyes so that we can behold a vision of the beauty of Christ and his kingdom. This requires two things. First, it means naming the lies and distortions (the dark curtain) that veil our sight. Second, it requires the illumination of that which is right and true and beautiful about God.

I am convinced that the most opaque curtain in North America blocking our view of God is consumerism. Therefore, it is our responsibility as preachers to name this darkness, show how it is warping our view, and pull it back from the eyes of our people. But critiquing the darkness is never enough. Once the curtain is removed, we must shine the light and illuminate a flaming vision of life with Christ in his kingdom. This is the inspiring sight that should fill our people and lift them to new heights. We must help them see the treasure in the field for which they would sell all they have to buy. This is what I hope to accomplish, with God's help, whenever I ascend to the pulpit, and it is why I was compelled to write The Divine Commodity.

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As I noted on Tuesday, Skye is visiting over 20 blogs today. Pretty nuts, eh? If you like what you've read here, you might want to go visit any of the following sites for more:

Out of Ur
Flowerdust.net
Stuff Christians Like
Ragamuffin Soul
Monday Morning Insight
Mark D. Roberts
Ben Arment
Church Relevance
Bob Franquiz
Bob Hyatt
Cole-Slaw
The Forgotten Ways
Reclaiming the Mission
The Shlog
Frank Viola
The Gospel-Driven Church
Christina Meyer
Lee Coate
Gathering in Light
Off the Agenda
Take Your Vitamin Z
Staying Focused
ZonderFann