Preaching Public Theology in a Troubled Society
If you’re a regular church-goer here in Northern Ireland, here’s an article worth reading and reflecting on, especially if you’re a preacher.
This is a link to a Washington Post article which features extracts from sermons from last Sunday in churches and synagogues in the USA. They represent all shades of opinion (as far as I can see) and they tackle head-on, and with some pastoral wisdom, the terrible political events currently unfolding in the US.
Some of it is quite moving. Some is shocking and certainly caused me to pause.
But these extracts also made me wonder about what will be preached here in NI this week. How will we in our churches reflect on our politics/culture this week?
How often will Brexit be mentioned?
Or the perceived threats to the GFA?
What about the families of those killed in the New Lodge in 1973 and their demand for a new investigation?
What about the state of social care and the scandal of Kevin Rafferty’s £30k care bill from the Belfast Health Trust occasioned by a change in his benefits?
It raises a discussion in my head about the purpose of preaching and preachers.
Or maybe we’re tired of these things and we want some comfort? 2 Tim 4:3 says “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires”
Bit harsh do you think?