by Gary Goodell
A recent contest put on by Leadership Journal, has concluded that the top two preachers in America are T.D. Jakes and Chuck Swindoll, with each receiving 23 percent of the vote. The September 17, 2001 issue of Time Magazine carries T.D. Jakes on the cover while asking the question, “Is this man the next Billy Graham?” While Time had acknowledged Billy Graham as the long-standing holder of the distinction as America’s Preacher, Vincent Synan, dean of religion at Regent University, throws Jakes into a unique category in that Jakes and Graham are the only two evangelists who could pack out Atlanta’s 79,000-capacity Georgia Dome. While these two great American orators, Jakes and Swindoll, were given high scores for their delivery, their skillful handling of the text, and their overall ability to connect well with their listeners, I was even more challenged by some of the comments that followed the contest in Leadership. In particular I was taken by a comment from Dan Kimball of Santa Cruz, California, as he stated his concern that, “Preaching is only one, small part of being a pastor. Could we subtly be teaching church attendees not how to feed themselves from the Word of God, but to become dependent on the ‘greatest’ preachers?”
While I would never denigrate the necessity for the word of God to be preached, (the kerygma, the Good News to be declared, Romans 10:14 still standing as a necessity, “…how will they hear without a preacher?”) I can’t stop asking the question as to whether Kimball has hit on something. Is it possible that as the gap deepens between the talkers and listeners that we simultaneously lessen people’s eagerness and effectiveness in being message carriers to their world? By making the professional pulpit the Olympics of Oratory, do we in fact, continue to foster a pastor-dominated, sermon-driven worship machine that actually hinders the average players role in Kingdom expansion? It’s like the age-old issue of experience and opportunity. Remember when you couldn’t get a job because of a lack of experience, and yet you couldn’t get experience because no one would give you a job?
If the question is asked, “How will they hear without a preacher?” should another question also be asked; “How will they ever get good a preaching if we always preach for them?”
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