Is This an Appropriate Sermon Subject?

[Marrow Man]

A Texas mega-church pastor preached a sermon yesterday where he challenged the married members of his congregation to make use of the marriage bed daily for a week. I blog about it here.

How many pastors would have preached a sermon like this? I've been going through 1 Corinthians on Wednesday evenings, and some of the subject matter there (in chapters 6 and 7) is a little delicate to talk about. Certainly it is a subject that needs to be addressed within the church, but how could it be done differently?

 

[TimV]

Did he allow rain checks for menstration, recent child birth, sicknesses etc..?

 

[TheFleshProfitethNothing]

I often wonder this myself. I can only think, as the Church I attend right now, that women meet at a Bible study mid-week, and the Men meet every other week (as the elders meet on the alternate weeks). I believe that this is an appropriate setting for this kind of teaching...although, it is Scripture, and therefore if one does Chapter-by-Chapter, Verse-by-Verse exegesis in preaching/teaching, I suppose it would to some extent need expounding...

So, I guess, if one is honest, the pulpit would have to be one place to mention such, and yet, if one were to get into a more in-depth discussion on a particular point of the teaching (as in 1 Corinthians), maybe such things would be better done in seperate Bible Studies (understanding our sinfulness, as well as, that some just might not be comfortable talking of such, around the opposite sex).

Those are my current thoughts on it.

 

[Marrow Man]

Did he allow rain checks for menstration, recent child birth, sicknesses etc..?

Excellent question(s)! I do not know the answer to this.

 

[Marrow Man]

It could be done by extrapolating the sermon from the text, and exhorting the congregation to apply it as it is taught; not by "encouraging" them to engage in extrabiblical "uses," which results in de-emphasizing that which is to be emphasized in said text.

Good point. Is this not, though, indicative of the mega-church desire to have "relevant, practical" sermons from the pulpit, such that it is the topic that drives the sermon rather than the text of Scripture?

 

[TheFleshProfitethNothing]

I already thought of something else...

As we know, Scripture teaches that OUR righteousness is as "filthy rags"...if one were to truly expound on this, they would HAVE to go to the original language, and explain what they "filthy rags" really are...if you want to REALLY preach it, I would say that is necessary.

But, for the most part, I do think getting more in-depth about such subjects might be better through seperate Bible Studies; men with men/women with women. Much more comfortable for most.

 

[Honor]

I heard about this.... I think kudos.... I mean, there are a lot of Christians right now who are withhold sex as a power trip... something to use in exchange for whatever they want. If they took the pastor up on the Challenge then maybe that aspect of the marriage might be restored. But at least... what harm could come from it? and I bet there were a lot of smiling faces in the congregation the next Sunday.
It's not like he was asking them to do something awful... I think it's GREAT!

 

[Marrow Man]

I already thought of something else...

As we know, Scripture teaches that OUR righteousness is as "filthy rags"...if one were to truly expound on this, they would HAVE to go to the original language, and explain what they "filthy rags" really are...if you want to REALLY preach it, I would say that is necessary.

But, for the most part, I do think getting more in-depth about such subjects might be better through seperate Bible Studies; men with men/women with women. Much more comfortable for most.

I have no problem with pointing out such "earthy" things. Elijah's taunt of the prophets of Baal seems to suggest that the god was on the toilet, which I've pointed out before in Bible study; David cut a portion of Saul's garment while the king was relieving himself, which is clear in the text; Paul's use of rubbish in Philippians 3 can mean a pile of rotten garbage, but also a pile of dung (translated this way in the KJV). So such observations, coupled with Christian prudence, are entirely appropriate, In my humble opinion.

On the other hand, I remember reading once about a pastor who made the "mistake" of preaching through Ezekiel. When he got the section that metaphorically references the anatomy and reproductive practices of donkeys, he found it quite difficult to preach, if I remember correctly!

 

[Notthemama1984]

Is the subject appropriate? Yes. Was it presented appropriately? No.