He's Too Long

A few weeks ago during a meeting session at the church, I admitted that at times I can be long winded during a preaching/teaching opportunity. For which a response came back; "Yea, you were long but I chalked it up as you being a preacher!" We all laughed cause it was funny the way the person said it.

Since that time, I've been asking myself, Am I really a long winded preacher?" I will say in recent days I am more time sensitive by watching the clock or being aware of the late hour when being put up to preach.

I've also heard guys speak of the congregations retention ability during the sermon presentation that after about 20-30 minutes people checkout of the message and don't hear anything else you have to say. I dint think thats it for a few reasons:

1). A many of folk can sit in front of the TV for hours watching their favorite shows and can tell you everything about it the next day if not days/wks later and don't leave out one detail.

2). I just believe people listen to want they want to ... Period.

3). We can listen to an entire CD and memorize the lyrics with no problems.

4). Some guys (preachers) are just plain old boring. I will admit I fell asleep on some guys because they were too long and boring.

5). People stay up way too late and then come to church asking God to speak to their tired restless mind. It ain't gone happen and if it does call it a miracle.

I think you get my point.

A person's retention ability is not the problem but a symptom. A follow up question then is this, what is the problem? My answer, who knows but them.

While I am aware that an effective sermon does not have be long as much as what maybe considered a short sermon can be deemed ineffective.

Here's the issue that I've been toying with in my head for weeks.

Am I a longed winded preacher or a concerned preacher who wants to insure God's people are fed regularly and consistently?

When approaching this topic from the stands of consistent preaching, I realize I can be both long and short winded as long as I am consistently interpreting the text accurately.

Preaching is like cooking a good meal. There are some meals that require long preparation time and there are some meals that are cooked quickly (right out of the box) and the final result is satisfied eaters.

My ultimate goal and mission in ministry is to insure that God's people are satisfied with what I prepared for them to digest whether short or long.

At the end of Amen, I want them to walk away and say that was good for my soul.