Missionaries filling the pulpit

[RAIDER]

I know there will be many different views on this topic.  What are your thoughts on missionaries filling the pulpit when they are on deputation/furlough?  I love missionaries.  The sacrifices that many of them make is humbling.  The church I attend is a missionary minded church and I am honored to be able to give toward this cause.

It seems that we have one or two missionaries each month that visit our church.  Most of them bring a video, display, and prayer cards.  The pastor lets them show their video and say a few words about their work.  This is always informative and interesting.  Now, I know I am going to open myself up to criticism.  On occasion the pastor will have a missionary preach.  Most missionaries are not the style of preacher to which we are accustom.  Many of them are a bit dry, and may I say with tongue in cheek, a bit boring.  I'm sure that it is not this way in the cultures in which they serve.

Recently we had a good missionary whom we have supported for many years stop by the church for a Sunday.  The pastor let him preach on a Sunday morning.  He fit the description above.  Let's just say that the service was dead.  There were visitors and I had to wonder if they thought this was what a normal Sunday was like.  If so, they would probably not be back.

I don't mean to throw every missionary in this basket.  There are some missionaries whose preaching translates well into the American pulpit.  Their preaching has been a blessing.  The pastor usually know who they are.

We definitely want missionaries stopping by the church to report and update us on their ministries.  Is it wrong to allow them to show their video and spend a few minutes updating without preaching in the service?  Because they are missionaries whom we support should they preach regardless of their "style"?   

Hacker Nation, what think ye?     

 

[Twisted]

I think the pastor should do as he sees fit.

Missionaries whose preaching is boring?  There are plenty of pastors who preach "boring" as well.

 

[RAIDER]

Missionaries whose preaching is boring?  There are plenty of pastors who preach "boring" as well.

You can always find exceptions.  I agree that there are plenty of pastors who are boring.  Perhaps a missionary preaching would be refreshing to these churches.  I'm talking about a church who has a pastor that is not boring and his church is being fed. 

 

[Vince Massi]

In the Assemblies of God church that we attend here in Mexico, we have occasional missionary speakers. Some have sacrificed tremendously but are poor speakers. Others are excellent preachers.

The pastor decides who preaches, and we have never had a problem.

 

[Twisted]

I'm talking about a church who has a pastor that is not boring and his church is being fed.

Off-topic but.....

FBCH under Hyles was not boring (I think most would agree) but were you "fed"?

And sadly, because of the cynicism one gets after the FBCH "experience", one has to wonder what lurks under any church that is not "boring".

Sorry, don't mean to hijack the thread.

 

[RAIDER]

I'm talking about a church who has a pastor that is not boring and his church is being fed.

Off-topic but.....

FBCH under Hyles was not boring (I think most would agree) but were you "fed"?

And sadly, because of the cynicism one gets after the FBCH "experience", one has to wonder what lurks under any church that is not "boring".

Sorry, don't mean to hijack the thread.

I felt that I was fed at FBCH.  Maybe it was because I was young and naive.  Of course, there were a few messages that made me scratch my head, but overall it was good for me.

 

[RAIDER]

And sadly, because of the cynicism one gets after the FBCH "experience", one has to wonder what lurks under any church that is not "boring".

Many years ago I had the privilege of meeting Mrs. Rice when I visited a church in Tennessee.  My wife and I approached her after the service.  I commented to her about all the sermons of Dr. Rice that she must have heard.  I followed up with the stupid question, "Was Dr. Rice ever boring?"  She calmly looked at me and softly said, "Young man, it's wrong for a preacher to be boring.  John R. was never boring".  Classic moment! 

 

[Twisted]

Many years ago I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Rice...

Say what??

 

[Twisted]

I felt that I was fed at FBCH.  Maybe it was because I was young and naive.  Of course, there were a few messages that made me scratch my head, but overall it was good for me.

We see what all that head-scratching did for you!

But I agree, considering my age and level of ignorance.

Today if any preachers say "close your Bible and look at me", I'd get up and out in a heartbeat.  God winked at our ignorance and naivete then, but not now.

 

[RAIDER]

Many years ago I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Rice...

Say what??

Corrected

 

[RAIDER]

I felt that I was fed at FBCH.  Maybe it was because I was young and naive.  Of course, there were a few messages that made me scratch my head, but overall it was good for me.

We see what all that head-scratching did for you!

But I agree, considering my age and level of ignorance.

Today if any preachers say "close your Bible and look at me", I'd get up and out in a heartbeat.  God winked at our ignorance and naivete then, but not now.

I wouldn't get up unless he preached heresy.  Closing a Bible doesn't mean truth isn't preached.

 

[Twisted]

I felt that I was fed at FBCH.  Maybe it was because I was young and naive.  Of course, there were a few messages that made me scratch my head, but overall it was good for me.

We see what all that head-scratching did for you!

But I agree, considering my age and level of ignorance.

Today if any preachers say "close your Bible and look at me", I'd get up and out in a heartbeat.  God winked at our ignorance and naivete then, but not now.

I wouldn't get up unless he preached heresy.  Closing a Bible doesn't mean truth isn't preached.

And keeping it open doesn't mean truth is preached.

It's the philosophy.  Hey, if you don't see a problem with the preacher telling the congregation to close their Bibles, then that's on you.

 

[RAIDER]

I felt that I was fed at FBCH.  Maybe it was because I was young and naive.  Of course, there were a few messages that made me scratch my head, but overall it was good for me.

We see what all that head-scratching did for you!

But I agree, considering my age and level of ignorance.

Today if any preachers say "close your Bible and look at me", I'd get up and out in a heartbeat.  God winked at our ignorance and naivete then, but not now.

I wouldn't get up unless he preached heresy.  Closing a Bible doesn't mean truth isn't preached.

And keeping it open doesn't mean truth is preached.

It's the philosophy.  Hey, if you don't see a problem with the preacher telling the congregation to close their Bibles, then that's on you.

Straining over a gnat.  If a preacher reads a passage of Scripture, tells the congregation to close their Bibles and look at him, and rightly divides the Word, I have no problem.  If he reads a passage and takes it out of context to prove some point that he has created, I have a problem.  You can preach heresy with an open or closed Bible.

 

[Twisted]

I felt that I was fed at FBCH.  Maybe it was because I was young and naive.  Of course, there were a few messages that made me scratch my head, but overall it was good for me.

We see what all that head-scratching did for you!

But I agree, considering my age and level of ignorance.

Today if any preachers say "close your Bible and look at me", I'd get up and out in a heartbeat.  God winked at our ignorance and naivete then, but not now.

I wouldn't get up unless he preached heresy.  Closing a Bible doesn't mean truth isn't preached.

And keeping it open doesn't mean truth is preached.

It's the philosophy.  Hey, if you don't see a problem with the preacher telling the congregation to close their Bibles, then that's on you.

Straining over a gnat. 

OK..OK...

But if he says "Turn off your PHONES" ....now that's gotta be heresy!

 

[RAIDER]

I felt that I was fed at FBCH.  Maybe it was because I was young and naive.  Of course, there were a few messages that made me scratch my head, but overall it was good for me.

We see what all that head-scratching did for you!

But I agree, considering my age and level of ignorance.

Today if any preachers say "close your Bible and look at me", I'd get up and out in a heartbeat.  God winked at our ignorance and naivete then, but not now.

I wouldn't get up unless he preached heresy.  Closing a Bible doesn't mean truth isn't preached.

And keeping it open doesn't mean truth is preached.

It's the philosophy.  Hey, if you don't see a problem with the preacher telling the congregation to close their Bibles, then that's on you.

Straining over a gnat. 

OK..OK...

But if he says "Turn off your PHONES" ....now that's gotta be heresy!

Check out my newest thread! 

 

[Walt]

I know there will be many different views on this topic.  What are your thoughts on missionaries filling the pulpit when they are on deputation/furlough?  I love missionaries.  The sacrifices that many of them make is humbling.  The church I attend is a missionary minded church and I am honored to be able to give toward this cause.

I agree that missionaries should be honored.

It seems that we have one or two missionaries each month that visit our church.  Most of them bring a video, display, and prayer cards.  The pastor lets them show their video and say a few words about their work.  This is always informative and interesting.  Now, I know I am going to open myself up to criticism.  On occasion the pastor will have a missionary preach.  Most missionaries are not the style of preacher to which we are accustom.  Many of them are a bit dry, and may I say with tongue in cheek, a bit boring.  I'm sure that it is not this way in the cultures in which they serve.

Recently we had a good missionary whom we have supported for many years stop by the church for a Sunday.  The pastor let him preach on a Sunday morning.  He fit the description above.  Let's just say that the service was dead.  There were visitors and I had to wonder if they thought this was what a normal Sunday was like.  If so, they would probably not be back.

I don't mean to throw every missionary in this basket.  There are some missionaries whose preaching translates well into the American pulpit.  Their preaching has been a blessing.  The pastor usually know who they are.

We definitely want missionaries stopping by the church to report and update us on their ministries.  Is it wrong to allow them to show their video and spend a few minutes updating without preaching in the service?  Because they are missionaries whom we support should they preach regardless of their "style"?   

Hacker Nation, what think ye?   

I agree with what others have said, that it is up to the pastor.  He should use wisdom and discernment and seek God's wisdom in this area (just as if he were going to speak). There should not be a "rule" about a missionary always speaking or not speaking.

Having said that, in my long experience of IFB churches, most missionaries were, frankly, awful.

They used the pulpit as a sales pitch -- the message consisted of "see what great things I'm going?  Why aren't you doing as much as I am?" - some were more blatant and some were more subtle, but that is pretty much the theme of 99% of the missionary messages.  When it comes to preaching, I don't want story-telling time; do that afterwards.  Preaching should bring forth the truths of the Bible.  The preacher should not manipulate the crowd, but allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction.

I've only heard one missionary speak who was a huge blessing - it was so refreshing.

 

[16KJV11]

I have had several missionaries come through and they all have done a wonderful job.  Me, on the other hand... ???

 

[RAIDER]

Having said that, in my long experience of IFB churches, most missionaries were, frankly, awful.

They used the pulpit as a sales pitch -- the message consisted of "see what great things I'm going?  Why aren't you doing as much as I am?" - some were more blatant and some were more subtle, but that is pretty much the theme of 99% of the missionary messages.  When it comes to preaching, I don't want story-telling time; do that afterwards.  Preaching should bring forth the truths of the Bible.  The preacher should not manipulate the crowd, but allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction.

I have not experienced the "sales pitch" missionary.  As I stated in an earlier post, our pastor allows them to present their ministry through a video presentation and possibly a brief testimony.  The problems I have encountered is with the "boring" preaching.

 

[Walt]

Having said that, in my long experience of IFB churches, most missionaries were, frankly, awful.

They used the pulpit as a sales pitch -- the message consisted of "see what great things I'm going?  Why aren't you doing as much as I am?" - some were more blatant and some were more subtle, but that is pretty much the theme of 99% of the missionary messages.  When it comes to preaching, I don't want story-telling time; do that afterwards.  Preaching should bring forth the truths of the Bible.  The preacher should not manipulate the crowd, but allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction.

I have not experienced the "sales pitch" missionary.  As I stated in an earlier post, our pastor allows them to present their ministry through a video presentation and possibly a brief testimony.  The problems I have encountered is with the "boring" preaching.

It is possibly I was unclear: the sales pitch is pretty subtle - it usually consists of (1) what a great job they are doing winning souls on deputation (2) How eager they are to get to the field  (3) Misc items of how "on fire" they are  -- in general, a resume of why they would be a good missionary family to support.  These things tend to be sprinkled through whatever they are speaking about. 

So, it's not a blatant sales pitch.

The other item that seems to be nearly constant is the beating the local church up about doing more for Jesus -- at a very high summary: "here's all the great things I am doing -- why aren't you doing as much?"

As I said earlier, I've only ever heard one missionary who didn't do either of these; as I recall, his message was an encouragement to dream big and expect God to do great things.

 

[RAIDER]

Having said that, in my long experience of IFB churches, most missionaries were, frankly, awful.

They used the pulpit as a sales pitch -- the message consisted of "see what great things I'm going?  Why aren't you doing as much as I am?" - some were more blatant and some were more subtle, but that is pretty much the theme of 99% of the missionary messages.  When it comes to preaching, I don't want story-telling time; do that afterwards.  Preaching should bring forth the truths of the Bible.  The preacher should not manipulate the crowd, but allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction.

I have not experienced the "sales pitch" missionary.  As I stated in an earlier post, our pastor allows them to present their ministry through a video presentation and possibly a brief testimony.  The problems I have encountered is with the "boring" preaching.

It is possibly I was unclear: the sales pitch is pretty subtle - it usually consists of (1) what a great job they are doing winning souls on deputation (2) How eager they are to get to the field  (3) Misc items of how "on fire" they are  -- in general, a resume of why they would be a good missionary family to support.  These things tend to be sprinkled through whatever they are speaking about. 

So, it's not a blatant sales pitch.

The other item that seems to be nearly constant is the beating the local church up about doing more for Jesus -- at a very high summary: "here's all the great things I am doing -- why aren't you doing as much?"

As I said earlier, I've only ever heard one missionary who didn't do either of these; as I recall, his message was an encouragement to dream big and expect God to do great things.

I'll have to say that this is totally opposite of missionary experiences at the churches I have attended.