Weblog Entry - 12/12/2003: "Stand up, speak up, shut up"

12/12/2003 Entry: "Stand up, speak up, shut up"

Wood, gratefully recovering from server problems, tells us about reactions to a service he was involved in last Sunday.

I spoke for seven minutes, Tracy for fourteen, so the inevitable "you were too short" comment came from our minister. I was also told variously that I was "too political", that the first couple minutes of my own talk were "an advert for the Christian Socialists" (and why that was a good thing), and that I had one illustration that was so good, it distracted the listener from the rest of the talk.

It got me thinking about some of the comments I've received after preaching, particularly those of the "too long" or "too short" variety. My first reaction is that in my experience congregations never grumble about "too short" unless you go to extremes. The old preachers' adage, "Stand up, speak up, shut up", has alot of merit! More seriously, the question a preacher has to answer is not "Have I used the right amount of time?" but "Have I adequately given the message that has been laid on me?" Time isn't irrelevant, but my advice would always be to err on the side of shortness rather than the other thing. (And, yes. I'm fully aware that I need to listen to my own advice!) The causes of "too long" or "too short" can be criticized of course. That 50 minute sermon on "The New Covenant" probably didn't benefit from a 27 minute excursus on Hittite suzerainity treaties. And the 12 minuter that relied on a congregation understanding the difference between expiation and propitiation could, in all likelihood, have benefitted from the time it would have taken to give an adequate explanation of the distinction. But in both cases, it isn't the time itself that's the issue but rather the preacher's effectiveness in conveying the message.

And in my (not very) humble opinion, a message that can be delivered in 7 minutes should never, ever be delivered in 20. Or, God forbid, 40.

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