In a thread for pastors only, Pergamum asked:

CS Lewis once prefaced an address to Divinity students by remarking that the approach he was about to take was that of "a sheep telling shepherds what only a sheep could tell them." On this question, perhaps the shepherds here need to hear our bleating.

In my view, the first thing we ought to to if we experience preaching as boring is to examine our hearts very carefully indeed. In my time following Christ, I have found that experiencing preaching as boring is an indicator that something might be wrong with my own Christian life. So when I find myself being bored by doctrinally sound preaching, I ask myself: have I somehow grieved the Holy Spirit, either by active sinning, a passive refusal to address something he wants addressed, or by denying to myself the reality that the actions of someone in my life have so deeply hurt or offended me that "love covers a multitude of sins" is insufficient and the Matt. 18 process must be engaged in so that reconcilliation may occur? Often my answer is yes to one or more of these questions but sometimes the answers have come back no.

A second point I need to ask myself is: have I made the best use of the preaching that I can? Do I listen carefully to what is said, so much so that I can recall it later? Do I ask questions of myself? or meditate on thoughts that did catch my attention? If I have done these things, even though the preaching may be "boring" overall, it is still feeding me and I am being helped by it.

Only after we have searched our hearts, resolved any issues revealed in the process, and made certain we are doing everything possible to profit from sermons can we go on to the next step: telling the pastor? Start by saying something like:
"I've been having a spiritual problem recently. It has caused me to search my heart and make sure that I am neither sinning actively against the Lord nor my brothers, nor passively refusing what the Lord wants me to do. Nor as best I know, am I in a state of offence against anyone. But despite practicing, as best I can, the disciplines of best profiting from sermons, and although I find your sermons doctrinally sound, there is a sense in which I find them boring. Somehow your preaching is not communicating to me the life that is in the word." After which preface, it will be easier to offer any positive criticism that you can suggest that you think may help the pastor improve.

Only after taking all the above steps and giving the pastor a measure of time to consider and improve his preaching may we consider whether or not we need to cease attending that church. Yet, even if the preaching is boring, there are other reasons to remain at a church: for example, one could be so committed to the particular evangelistic or service opportunities available to a particular local church and so spiritually helped by the fellowship within it that you can remain under preaching that is not helpful to you.

On the other hand, a stoic endurance of doctrinally accurate but personally unhelpful preaching for an extended period of time has its own dangers. Unless carefully watched, dissatisfaction with the preaching can become so settled that you find it driving you to become a critic both of the preacher and the life of the church. In such situations, if you have access to a church of similar doctrinal convictions with preaching that you and your family find challenging and invigrorating instead of boring, transferring membership is an option worth serious consideration.

Just my

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In Christ's love and service

Mr. Tim Cunningham,
BMus. (Trombone Performance), University of Toronto
Dip. CS, Regent College, Vancouver
Member, First Baptist Church
Vancouver, BC
------------
"I once sat in darkness, and waited for the moon to rise.
I once sat in darkness, and waited for the sun to shine.
I once sat in darkness, when all the light I'd waited for was gone.
Then Jesus came, and now the only true light, ever, shines in me."
– John Deacon -

The whole problem with this is that boring is a subjective term, not an objective one. Same thing with "dynamic," etc.

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Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, RPCGA
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It is God that multiplies our sorrows.... God, as a righteous Judge, does it, which ought to silence us under all our sorrows; as many as they are, we have deserved them all, and more: nay, God, as a tender Father, does it for our necessary correction, that we may be humbled for sin, and weaned from the world by all our sorrows; and the good we get by them, with the comfort we have under them, will abundantly balance our sorrows, how greatly soever they are multiplied. - Matthew Henry

I would want to determine if it is boring preaching or bad preaching. I agree a 2 hour monotone sermon on the OT Law is not appealing to me. But then again neither is an exciting sermon with terrible exegesis and bad exposition.

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Joseph F Scibbe
Chaplain Assistant
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Ephesians 1:4-7, 1 Thessalonians 2:8, Romans 12:1-2
Titus 2:2 - But you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

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Thanks Tim, I forgot that my thread was not for the general public.

-----Added 7/16/2009 at 01:50:31 EST-----

p.s.

I think that even though "boring" is a subjective term that there really are preachers that are boring and that most sane persons would agree as such.

One can put up and shut up, but it is not merely content that matters but also the delivery of such content.

One can try to benefit as much as possible even from a bad preacher, of course, but I don't think one needs to feel guilty if they begin to dread sitting through another 70 minute dry monotone lecture.

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Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

Let me try to further define "being bored under doctrinally sound preaching" as "the condition where experience of the word of God rightly preached does not quicken one's mind, heart or will leading to measurable growth in grace - that is, a more faithful or joyful living of the Christian life over an extended period of time."

I have sat under the teachings of Pastors who rocked the house; delivering enough entertainment, excitement, and laughter to rival the best of performers . . .who only caused me to weep all the way home.

Scriptural and doctrinal content is primary with me; I don't care how boring the presentation may be.

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Ronda Rush
Church of the Redeemer
Independent Reformed
California


" . . .It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'" Matthew 4:4

The OP on this thread was intended to presume sound scriptural exegesis and orthodox doctrine present in the preaching as a given. The problem being discussed is the condition when such preaching leaves one unmoved. You are not insane to note that scriptural and doctrinal content is primary, but you may not yet have experienced a truly boring presentation of such content and its effects for an extended period. If you haven't, you are blessed.

Is it "rightly preached" if it bores to tears?

-----Added 7/16/2009 at 02:31:56 EST-----

P.s. to say that any problem or trouble lies in the hearer seems a convenient defense mechanism that preachers might be particularly susceptible to fall into since many of us would not like to admit that our preaching is boring and that it may be a hindrance to some.

There is more to the preacher than his preaching. There is also the aspect of his watching over your soul. So therefore, to answer the original question, if it is a given that the messages are doctrinally sound and he is a diligent shepherd who loves you and his flock, then I think it would be wrong to leave because he is not the best of speakers. Just because someone is boring doesn't mean that they are not apt to teach. There is no requirement in Scripture that the pastor is not to be boring. As far as being "unmoved", the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit are what move us. If our desire is to be moved by a man and his speaking ability then that is an issue with our heart.

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John Lanier
Elder in Training
Reformed Baptist Church
Topeka, KS

Very excellent point!

A wonderful pastor of his people who visits them much but has some speaking deficiencies would still make a wonderful pastor, right? I would think so, and I would think that his people would still love him.

However, many of the reformed I know count their main activity of 30-40 hours prep per week as administering the Word from the pulpit, and visitation is left to elders.

It is certainly wrong to leave without attempting to identify the source of the problem and attempting to rectify it.

By definition "teaching" is the communication of knowledge or skills. Someone may, by sufficient weakness in presentation, fail to effectively communicate the knowledge he has attempted to pass on. Such a one is indeed not apt to teach.

Biblical theology teaches that the Holy Spirit uses means to move us. One of these is the preached word. If doctrinally sound preaching is not consistently moving us into growth in grace over an extended period of time, something is wrong somewhere. It is either something wrong in us or something wrong in the preacher's presentation.

Let us not forget this step. All too often the response of folks is to quit coming to church altogether or move to another congregation - all the while bad mouthing the "boring" preacher.

Have the courtesy to bring this to his attention. If it doesn't change respectfully inform him that you are going. Then say nothing negative about what has become your previous congregation.

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Curt Lovelace
Pastor, Covenant Baptist Church (CBA)
Acton, Maine
Director, Lifework Forum
Sermons at SermonAudio.com/CBCActon
Blogging at Coffee with Curt

Sorry, please read "rightly" as "doctrinally sound". I was trying to avoid repetition.

I would try to learn as much as I can. I would not focus my mind on how boring the preacher is.

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Curt Hayashida
member, Community Bible Church (Non-denominational)
Vallejo, CA

John Donne asked, "Why are Puritan sermons so long?" His answer was, "So that when the congregants wake up the preacher is still preaching to them."

Not an answer to your question, but it reminded me of John Donne.

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Steven J. Carr (Sven)
http://beholdingthebeauty.blogspot.com/
Eagan, MN
PCA
"Weak is the effort of my heart / And cold my warmest thought / But when I see thee as thou art / I'll praise thee as I ought."--John Newton
Trophy Wife/Arm Candy: Crystal Ann Children: Steven Jr. and Hannah Grace

1) Who is attempting to rectify the problem? Please explain. Is it the layperson? Is it the layperson's duty to come to the pastor and tell him that he is a lousy speaker? This is what causes divisions in churches by making people discontent. I could be way off in my interpretation of what you meant.

1 Corinthians 1:11-12
11For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

Not to say that Paul was speaking on preaching style here but if there are multiple speakers the people can choose favorites.

2) Do I only teach from the pulpit? If I have a conversation with a member after services about the Word of God, am I not teaching? Teaching is in the pulpit and out of it as well. If I communicate the truth in a way that is understandable, then I am teaching. One doesn't have to be a pulpit pounder to be apt to teach. Maybe I am misunderstanding what you meant here too. In my mind, just because someone is boring doesn't mean that I don't understand what they are saying. If I understand, then whether they are boring or not boring doesn't matter.

1 Corinthians 2:1
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

3) I agree here that the Spirit uses means. My point is that doctrinally sound preaching can be accomplished by someone who is not a polished "speaker."

Thanks for the interaction.

I would glean as much as I could from the teaching. A tall cup of coffee could be used prior to the sermon to keep alert. If I want entertainment I have a stereo & multiple sources to feed it. If I want excitement I have NJ traffic to drive in. Was Paul boring? Maybe. I think the words used was his speech was contemptible, but he laid about half of the new testament down.

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Rich Koster
1689'er
Browns Mills NJ USA
Often Goofy Reformed Eccentric
Romans 7:14-25

BTW, if the sermon is really boring, don't sit in any window sills, you might fall out and break your neck. If you worship in a cessationist church, the minister will not be able to raise you from the dead.

You could always do what so many Reformed folks I know do... you can dutifully sit through the scourging so that you can, with a clean conscience, publically decry as sinful all who don't... and then you can go listen to your favorite radio preacher who provides your "real" sustinence.

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Ben
Chaplain, US Army
Ft. Riley, KS
TE Ohio Valley Presbytery, PCA

Perhaps one cause of a "boring" preacher could be a lack of a praying congregation?

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Jonathan
Audio Engineer
Reformed Anabaptist
Ohio

Moroni's magical glasses of proper interpretation:

I think it is noteworthy to mention that Jonathan Edwards was not a dynamic preacher and was quite monotone in his style....yet some of the greatest revivals stemmed from his preaching! And as a matter of perspective, for those of us that think preaching today is boring, during OT days they stood for hours while listening to the reading of the law! And in other countries today, they have services that are held for 4 hours straight, and the people are hungry to receive God's Word and are zealous to listen.....I wonder if we as listeners should be more zealous to hear God's Word rather than the way in which it is delivered!

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Yvonne
Reformed Presbyterian
Currently seeking a Church

"A man's most glorious actions will at last be found to be but glorious sins, if he hath made himself, and not the glory of God, the end of those actions." -T. Brooks

Wow. They told you that they do that?

Good point. When I think of "boring preaching" though, I'm not envisioning a man talking in a monotone. I think more of a preacher who, although he may be preaching sound doctrine, cannot make good connections, cannot explain his points coherently, and cannot connect to the congregation. Perhaps Edwards preached in a monotone, but I think his sermons were very coherent and understandable. I, on the other hand, have heard some pastors who, although they were confessional, simply could not communicate with the congregation.

I'm not sure its such a good idea to consider leaving a church because of an uninteresting presentation "style." However, if you're unable to make sense of the sermons or if the pastor is regularly incoherent, then I think leaving may be a reasonable option (after approaching the matter through the session etc of course)

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Kathleen M
nondenominational
Montana

[quote=John Lanier;654715][quote=timmopussycat;654690]It is certainly wrong to leave without attempting to identify the source of the problem and attempting to rectify it.

By definition "teaching" is the communication of knowledge or skills. Someone may, by sufficient weakness in presentation, fail to effectively communicate the knowledge he has attempted to pass on. Such a one is indeed not apt to teach.

Biblical theology teaches that the Holy Spirit uses means to move us. One of these is the preached word. If doctrinally sound preaching is not consistently moving us into growth in grace, something is wrong somewhere. It is either something wrong in us or something wrong in the preacher's presentation.

I was referring to the layman involved. If I am finding doctrinally sound preaching unmoving, I must advise either the preacher or the session about the problem and the stemps I have taken to make sure the problem is not on my end of the communication.

Generally speaking I have not found pastors "preaching" in conversations. And what is at issue as I have attempted to frame the discussion is that the preacher is not effective communicating the truth, whether by incoherent argument or dissonance between material and presentation.

Indeed it can. But polished speaking skills will add to the effectiveness of such preaching.

Oh, by the way, the Edwards being "not dynamic" and monotone is a myth. Mark Twain once described him as a raving madman, which is probably hyperbole, but nonetheless does not comport with Edwards being a rhetorical dud.

I think you're onto something. Most "boring" sermons are not boring because of the personality of the pastor, but because the pastor views his job as lecturing systematic theology or simply moralizes without purpose. A pastor ought to employ an audience-conscious approach that considers his congregation, considers the impact that God desires this passage to have on their lives, thinks of ways to communicate both the essence and the implication of the texts, and has a personal urgency (not fanaticism) about him that indicates that he sincerely believes that the congregation needs to hear God's Word.

If a pastor does not do this, he is not "rightly preaching" no matter what his doctrine is. BTW, Jay Adams' Preaching with Purpose is an excellent homiletical resource that addresses these issues.

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Charlie Johnson
Downtown Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, student

Something I heard in the Systematic Theology lectures on iTunesU by Douglas Kelley sticks in my head. He stated that he was asked by a friend if he finds himself evaluating the sermon he's listening to for the purity of the doctrine and difficult to listen to the Word preached.

His reply was "No" and that he found any opportunity to sit under the preached Word to be a privilege.

I was at Church recently on TAD and found myself drifting off into the thought: "This guy is boring". I rebuked myself and tried to focus on the Truth he was proclaiming instead of focusing on my reaction to the way I wish he taught.

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Rich
PCA, Northern VA
Student, New Geneva Theological Seminary

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Perhaps it would be helpful to divide the question a little further. Thus,

What is my responsibility when sitting under a boring sermon?
To heed God's word and profit from it as best I may.

What is the responsibility of a preacher who realizes he is boring?
To cultivate better elocution, delivery and organization; to limit the length of his sermon; in short, to consider his congregation.

What can a preacher do to overcome being boring?
__________________________ Read Cicero?

What are the long-term effects of boring preaching?
Disinterest; increased dependence on other preachers; dread of worship services;_________________________________________

"Boring" and "dynamic" are subjective terms, and personal preferences in the matter of preaching have to be mortified when they become obstacles to the means of grace, just like any other bit of self that's getting in the way. At the same time, the qualification of being "apt to teach" would necessarily seem to include, as Albert Martin put it, the ability to speak without torturing men's minds or ears.

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Moderator
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Charlie thank you; you have exactly stated the omissions in pastoral practice that lead to doctrinally sound yet boring preaching.

Actually, I beg to differ! I've read several resources that indicate that he was, so I don't believe that it was a myth. In fact, according to witnesses that heard his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" in Connecticut, 1741...he was quite monotone!

"Though Edwards was intrigued by Whitefield's emotional even terrifying manner of preaching, he retained his own subdued style. Even when he preached "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God in Connecticut in 1741, according to witnesses, 'he stood fixedly in the pulpit of the Enfield Church, set his eyes on the bellrope at the rear, and spoke the words in a level tone and with no high pomp of rhetoric or oratory. The feelings he aroused in his audience were not of his making; indeed, he several times admonished his listeners to stop groaning and crying aloud and to be still.'"

Jonathan Edwards: Renewed Heart - Google Books

I think that I see what you are saying now. I think my concept of a boring sermon and your concept were two different things. If the sermon is boring due to lack of preparation or other things listed by Charlie above, then yes, there is a problem with the pastor. To me though, I wouldn't call that a boring sermon, just a bad one. But if all of those things are there and the layman just doesn't like the way the pastor speaks then the problem is with the heart of the layman. When I was considering what a boring sermon was, I was considering it a given that the pastor was doing all of those things but that the layman just didn't like the way he speaks.

What is being done to train preachers in stylistic matters? What do most seminaries provide? And in those classes, do they address mannerisms are merely grade the content? Delivery really does matter a lot.

Also, do we trend towards blaming the victim when someone is bored by us rather than critical self-reflection on how to better refine our manner of delivery?

When I was in seminary, which was in another era, I grant, Dr. Bob Rayburn taught us about gestures, clothing, transitions, illustrations, etc. He even had us read Dress for Success.

We used an excellent old text, On The Preparation and Deliver of Sermons, by Broaddus.

He also videtaped us and help us critique the tapes.

My first reaction when I read the post on the other thread was that a clarifying question needed to be asked:

Is it the preacher that has changed, or the listener?

If it's the listener (and likely in most cases it is) then the problem isn't the pastor.

If, on the other hand, the pastor has burned out, or gotten bored, or distracted, then the root problem needs to be addressed.

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Edward
Deacon
PCA
Texas

Well, I teach for a living, and so I think there certainly is something to be said for the idea that a teacher who can keep the attention of the class is a more effective educator than someone who cannot. Two teachers can present the exact same material and in one class, the students learn well, and in the other, everyone is lost. I think the same is true of pastors.

When someone is initially looking for a church, they are free to look for something that suits them, I think, and they aren't bound to continue at the first church that they wander into. So I saw no problem with what Pergamum did. We think of a lot of things whenever we first look for a church--is it close by? does it have good classes for the kids? etc. And, as a newcomer, it's not really your place to approach the pastor and say, "By the way, if I'm going to stay here, you need to work on your speaking skills."

On the other hand, if someone has been going somewhere for a while, then I think they owe it to the pastor to consider things more thoroughly and to have some compassion. Pastors get old, get depressed, develop Parkinson's disease, or whatever ... it may become more of a struggle for him. Not everyone is young and full of energy. But then, there should be a point too where someone might have to say, "Respectfully, sir, we've heard sermons on the book of Jude now for 20 Sundays running, and it's a really short book."

I think this sort of criticism goes over better though if you have a good relationship with the pastor and he knows you are not 'against him'.

I suppose whether I would ultimately leave a church over 'boring preaching' would depend largely on other factors than the preaching style. If I was new at a church and the sermon put me to sleep three Sundays in a row, I'd look for another church. But having been faithfully fed and ministered to at the church that I now attend for 5 years (and I am a difficult parishioner--I won't lie), I can't really envision a situation in which I would leave. If my pastor gets old and not as 'together' as he used to be in his style, my husband and I will still be sitting in the pew because we know the sort of minister that he is in his heart, and that there is much that we all can learn from him, even if we have to overlook more 'ums' and 'uhs' than we used to. And our kids would know not to ever, EVER call him boring or disrespect him.

But if a pastor really cares about his flock, I think he does try to look for ways to effectively communicate with them. If he is hampered by age, ill health, etc, then that is something beyond his control. But if he just doesn't care ... well, that's another story.

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Caroline
OPC
Schenectady, NY
Blog: The Unlikely Calvinist

In case anyone is wondering, this OP has no relation to my present circumstances. My home church is Rockin'...but I have encountered this in the past when I had to move around a lot. And in most cases the listener receives the blame and the rest of the congregation classifies them as "allergic to real meat", etc, "they couldn't handle the truth"or "We preached too deep for them...they ae used to light and fluffy." And this is NOT the case at all in some of the cases.

Practically, I also want to know (since a lot of seminary questions have arisen of late) how ministers are being prepared, and also how I can better prepare my self so that not only my content can be good, but my silly mannerisms and style do not get in the way of a blessing as the Word is opened. I want to be a better preacher, not just in Message, but in the delivery of that Message.

I've got one example from life that I will not name the pastor, nor the church, but the preaching was ... shallow and did not seem well prepared.

First I will define what I believe a "good sermon" is. Good sermon: Noun; a sermon in which the word is used liberally, application is salient to the world in which the church lives, and interpretation is clearly expounded from a proper hermeneutic through exegesis. It is not a presentation style, and it can be evaluated through the reading of the words spoken from a transcript of the service.

I have been in a church plant that had a recent graduate from seminary who seemingly did not deliver good sermons unless the session that oversaw the plant was present ... then he delivered excellent preaching. It may be that because he knew when the committee was coming he worked extra hard to prepare out of a sense of nervousness (I want to give the benefit of the doubt to him as to why the difference was night and day between the two extremes). This was not my private observation, but all those that had started the church (a group of very godly men, most of them had been good reformed folk for many years). The church steering committee actually asked the session to meet with him (and us) to discuss what was happening. In this case, I think it was a matter of a pastor who had no experience having been left on his own far too often because of distance between the plant and the "mother" church. The poor man was essentially "wet behind the ears" and thrust into being pastor of what is arguably one of the hardest situation for a pastor.

(As an aside, I really think our presbyteries need to address this by making sure that "fresh pastors" do not go to new churches, but rather that seasoned pastors go to new churches until the churches are established. This ought to be until the time a session is put in place, and support ought to be at least partly from presbytery until it happens. A 20 year veteran pastor is what ought to be the norm for church plants until they are fully established, and it might help greatly to provide new churches with the footing they need to have good sessions that are well trained, which in turn sets the tone for every subsequent session, as they are the ones that approve candidates for elder. Presbyteries ought to be in the business of planting every church that gets planted, and in the business of seeking to plant churches where there are none. "And how can they hear unless someone is sent?")

The end result was good. The pastor heard what we had been saying, the session sent someone down to hear the sermons nearly every other week (but not scheduled ahead of time) to monitor the sermons. And it helped the pastor grow and the church grow as well (there was a substantial change to the quality of sermons after that--not that they were the best in the world, but they seemed to be much better prepared and thought out) and while the men in the church had been helping already, the pastor asked for and received additional help (I believe that is when the church had a volunteer secretary start working about 15 hours a week if memory serves me [I am getting old, and three different church plants start to run together!]).

So back to the original ... if the sermons are not good sermons, there may be other means for dealing with the problem than leaving. If those that can tell something is wrong leave, where does that leave everyone else? If a pastor is doing poorly, perhaps there can be correction (especially with a young pastor) that will allow them to flourish and not only will that benefit him, but the church now has another good preacher. So leaving is not right if you have a session and you have not approached them about the problem first. You might find they will let you know they are addressing lack of quality in sermons (I'm not talking error in doctrine, but "touchy-feely" mush that feeds nobody.) Then they may also be in a position to help you grow as well (the problem might be with you).

A final thought ... mostly to our elders that oversee the sheep. Please remember your charges men. We are needy and sometimes we need you to be much more careful with a church plant than what might otherwise be done. Do not allow a church plant to be run by a fresh-out without close supervision; it is a recipe for disaster.

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Brian Withnell
Deacon, OPC
Leesburg, Virginia

You cannot train for war in the midst of a battle. Prepare before the battle starts; if the battle is long and hard, you will wish you had.

Brian: Wow, that sounds like a good conclusion to a potentially disastrous situation. How can a congregational church do this? Any advice for your independant brethren?

Pergy,

I just don't know how you could do it. There are problems that I see the church needing a presbytery to handle ... how does a congregational church handle a weak pastor that is just too young to do the job? Flounder? Kick him out and find another? I truly am presby by conviction, but I did attend a congregational church several times in my life and in every case (including the church in which I first heard the gospel) I was confronted by problems that would have been solved by preby polity.

I suppose if there are elders in the church, and they are good people, they could confront the pastor. The pastor answers to God, but there needs to be accountability for everyone in a church. Who holds the pastor accountable here on earth for his actions and life in a congregational church? (That is a real question ... I don't know and would love an answer to how a pastor is held accountable, I just don't know.)

If there is a session/board of elders they could certainly meet with the pastor (especially if they are viewed as equals) to discuss the perceived problem. In that particular situation, though, the were no elders in the local church plant, so who would hold the pastor accountable then? I feel for you brother ... with nobody to hold you accountable, it is a dangerous place to be in this world regardless of your standing. I certainly would not want to be without elders over me holding me accountable for my walk and life.

Our generation were wisely taught by the older generation that boredom is a state of the mind. If the preaching is boring I would venture a guess and say it is probably due to the person listening not taking the appropriate interest in what is being said.

__________________
Yours sincerely,


"Illum oportet crescere me autem minui."

Your use of the word "probably" gives me the hint that even you would admit to situations where true boring-ness was the case and that style might mean something, even if we are to minimize this as we strive to be good listeners and ignore style over content?