Liabilities of Live-Streaming II: Lively Preaching
Though live-streaming may be helpful, it is not the same as corporate worship. It should not be put in the same category as the assembly of believers that is called for in Hebrews 10:25. That position is inaccurate, and it will weaken the church in the long run. If the church is to come through the current crisis intact, we must recognize that live-streaming has liabilities as well as benefits. This post is going to focus on the differences between live-streamed preaching and real live preaching.
Preaching has been the primary method that the Lord has used to spread the gospel throughout history. (1 Corinthians 1:21) It is not, however, the only useful method. Parchments, books, printing presses, radio, and internet have also served well to spread the good news. (Isaiah 55:11) These means even ought to be used by Christians. There are undoubtedly many Christians that listen well to live-streamed sermons from home and benefit from them. A sermon listened to on headphones while exercising can be profoundly used by the Lord. It has not been my intent to dismiss those realities!
These technologies are especially a blessing to people who are sick, shut-in, or vulnerable. If you are one of those people, I encourage you to use the means with thanksgiving! Yet if we talk to those that are in nursing homes or shut-in, we hear that many of them would love to be back at church. If they could, they would even choose to take some risks to be there. They miss sitting under the preached Word. That is because they are at heart truly Reformed Christians and members of the body of Christ. Part of that is that they have experienced the power and primacy of preaching.
The Heidelberg Catechism, in question 98, asks the following:
Question: But may not images be tolerated in the churches, as books to the laity?
Answer: No: for we must not pretend to be wiser than God, who will have his people taught, not by dumb images, but by the lively preaching of his word.
I imagine that a few people may be unhappy with me for quoting that answer in the current context. After all, times and technology have changed vastly. The images we are using are different in form and purpose than those of ancient idolatry or medieval Roman Catholicism. These are not silent statues. I agree, though with some reservations.
The application of the principles from question 98 does bear thinking about at this time. One reason, considered in the last post in this series, is that in the minds and hearts of some, live-streaming may put the preacher on the same plateau as idols. Or perhaps down in the same abyss as a host of other images. It is our own weaknesses and sins that relate to some of the liabilities of live-streaming.
But what about the "lively preaching" part? Can lively preaching be live-streamed? Or is it inevitably a lesser "record" of preaching that is received? It is an important question, because the preaching of the Word of Christ that is supposed to be central to Reformed worship. Is the message received at the other end truly preaching to the audience in the Biblical and confessional sense? Is something not at least lost in terms of "lively preaching" when it is mediated by technology? Are we thinking about this enough?
I think, somewhat reluctantly, that personal experience is the only way I can communicate these thoughts. Our echo chambers tend to be well sealed these days, so you are welcome to come into mine, from the perspective of a backwoods northern preacher, for a moment:
Digital "Preaching"
First, we have tried to use technology the best we are able. I have spent many hours over the past year “preaching” to a camera alone in my study. Some people in our church are shut-in or more COVID concerned than others, and they have their reasons, so we use this method to spread the Word. Many of us however, have weak and expensive internet service, so I record sermons during the week. Then I drive to town, and sit in my car while I upload the videos to the internet through a somewhat faster free connection. I do this work knowing that some in our congregation do not have good enough internet to bring in the video. We upload audio as well, so some of them can access at least a sermon. Some of us pay a lot for service, and costs increase with usage. Later, when we rented a hall in town, we were able to put together a proper live-stream that some could access.
This is one more example, by the way, of why northerners think the big city government seem rather out of touch. Live-streaming simply does not work out here, even if it were comparable to worship. This is why schools are open here even during the stay-at-home orders. Students cannot connect to classes or online material. So an exception has been made for the north. Clearly government does not care about northern churches as much as they do schools. We feel differently.
To add to this, after a video or livestream, the responses are different or lacking. I am not looking for the feedback for my own sake, but it is an important part of the preaching process to have a sounding board. Fellowship, questions, and sermon discussions are helpful elements of discipleship. This experience of making videos and gauging responses to the sermons has played a role in how my thoughts have been shaped. This process feels more like speaking to a vacuum than a preaching to a camera. A medium stands between the flock and I like a dark mist. I cannot see or hear them or perceive any hint of their condition this week. I know that the sermon, more than usual, is likely to be food for the birds, baked in the sun, or choked by the thorns. (Mark 4:1-20)
I am reminded of the Apostle Paul's deep desire to see the faces of his beloved audience, and to have them see his:
"I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged." - Colossians 2:1
"..we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us." - 1 Thessalonians 2:17–18
Primitive Preaching
I think, secondly, it may help you to hear out our opposite experience. We have been, at the same time a primitive church. Our congregation worshipped outdoors, and in open sheds, from spring until into October. In Northern Ontario. In everything from freezing cold to blazing sun. With the mosquitos and the black flies. Under tent canopies that were being rattled by the wind. There was noisy competition from bleating sheep, lowing cattle, dogs, children, and unknown vehicles pulling into the middle of the worship service. While knowing that unknown neighbours had communicated COVID concerns to the township. After that we rented a hall and spent some months under watching eyes while trying to get our horde of happy free-range northern children to keep COVID regulations. We did manage to get a "real" live-stream going there and some could watch it from home. In between, we have also had small meetings in basements, shops, and living rooms.
Again, my point is not to complain. I have always enjoyed some adventure. One part of me thrives in such circumstances and another part has complained from time to time. I count it a privilege to serve the Lord, whether in a barnyard, a basement, or a building. The church of Jesus Christ grew in various ways, through all of it. The gates of hell have not prevailed. (Matthew 16:18) He also will not share His glory with another. (Isaiah 42:8, Isaiah 48:11) In the midst of all that, nothing by the way, was good enough or right enough for everyone. It is hard not to complain when you are in the wilderness. I did have some fairly cantankerous days myself, though I tried to hide it. The friction happens here as much as anywhere. If not more. Then we apologize, and we move on. Indeed, the Lord works in mysterious ways. He has been faithful to His promises, while we have not. Some, even many, of my favorite memories as a pastor have come in the past year. Some other times have been painful. I am not looking for pity or glory, but some of us need to realize that strong characters form strong opinions on things like Christ's living, breathing assembly because the Lord has shaped us as He wills. We fight tooth and nail to keep it together. Because we love His church.
The point of this bit of autobiography is that I write as one that has preached in almost every possible circumstance. Wrestling with a dark host of distractions and barriers. I have also preached in a handful of other nice churches across Canada since COVID. Even preaching in various circumstances of legality. I will do my best to wear these badges without any pride, after all, they were never mine and I did not form them. These are base and foolish things in the eyes of most, anyways. (1 Corinthians 1:27) Even more, if you think the above is tough on a preacher, think of the poor young mothers who had to listen to me through all of that, with no nursery and cranky toddlers who want to see those other sheep. Trying to keep the bugs off of them. These experiences do lead to the formulation of certain opinions and even convictions. We have tried to keep regulations the best we can, we use every means we can, but we must not allow Christ’s Word to be throttled. Church must go on.
My point is, I have probably preached in more circumstances than most. I have seen something of the fruit in all those situations, and the downsides. I understand that it is really distracting to try to listen to preaching when we are outside and uncomfortable. Yet I have seen that the Lord uses live preaching in inexplicable ways. He seems to prioritize the foolish things over the high-tech. (1 Corinthians 1:27) He uses ordinary means of grace. I would say of all of those circumstances I have preached in, video and live-streaming are dead last. Lapped last. Carried-across-the finish-line-by-another-runner last.
Some people, maybe even some in our local congregation, will disagree. That is fine, no need to argue. I understand that a couch beats outdoor church in October in a few ways. This is from the perspective of a preacher of the gospel. Via video, there is no real communication from the congregation to the minister. With video, I cannot tell if I have lost people and if a point needs to be elaborated. I cannot tell who is watching, and which applications ought to be made or skimmed over. I do not have any sense of being overly harsh, or too soft. If I have offended someone, and their arms are crossed and their face is an open book, I have no opportunity to ask them how they are doing after the service. If people are getting sleepy, I cannot crank up the volume, or pause for a moment, or add an application. I also know how hard it is for a young family to focus on a livestream sermon, as we would often “tune in” to another church on Sunday as well. There are no questions from the congregation, and there is far less evidence of soul searching. A lot of the life has gone out of preaching.
Thoughts from a Couple Great Preachers on Lively Preaching
I am not the first one to think this way. When a book publisher approached George Whitefield about printing his sermons, he said the following: "Well, I have no inherent objection, if you like, but you will never be able to put on the printed page the lightning and the thunder." The same is true of the screen. We may not have an inherent objection to it, we may have some qualms. But it is not the same, and we ought not to try to make it comparable. You can’t really put thunder and lightning on a screen. Its not the same as feeling the literal thunder shaking your bones and blinding your eyes. We need to accept that. How much more is that true when preachers have nowhere near the gifts of Whitefield?
Even more, there is the lack of contribution by the congregation to the preaching. That may sound strange to some of you! But consider what Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote about preaching in Knowing the Times:
....The congregation is also making its contribution. Here are spiritual minded people, they have come prepared and blended together. There is a unity between preacher and hearers and there is a transaction backwards and forwards. That to me is true preaching. and that is were you see the essential difference between listening to preaching in church and listening to a sermon on TV or radio. You cannot listen to true preaching in detachment and you must never be in a position were you can turn it off. What I am saying is that there is a element of control, there is a element of compulsion in preaching, and people who are there are gripped and fixed. I maintain that if it is not happening where you have not got true preaching. That is why reading must never be a substitute for preaching. You can put the book down, or you can argue with it. When there is true preaching you cannot do that, you are gripped, you are mastered. And I argue that this is an essential and a vital part of preaching. (p. 273)
This is nothing innovative or extreme. The Reformed churches have historically recognized these realities. We even know that a "reading" sermon is not the same as real preaching. Some elders do remarkably well but it is different. There are Biblical reasons that some men are set apart to "...labour in the word and doctrine." (1 Timothy 5:17) True preaching ought to be lively.
In a way, I am grasping at straws here. I doubt that I would grasp this myself when I was in my former calling. Probably because this subject is ultimately... inexplicable. (1 Corinthians 2:13)
Conclusion
In reflection, I would rather preach a shorter sermon "live" in a barnyard with the bugs, and the smell, and the distractions than through a camera. Experience has confirmed what I confess about preaching. It is better to preach to small groups, and have a few moments of Christian fellowship, than lean on a mere video. Especially with one day rolling into the next, all seven so similar. I believe, by the grace of God alone, that in person preaching is much more lively despite my weaknesses and sins. It is worth the burdens.
"Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine." - 2 Timothy 4:2–3
This is part two of a four-part series on the limitations of live streaming worship services. The next article will deal with gathering and fellowship.
