Introduction
I have pushed off writing for several weeks now but would like to finish a series of three articles I began weeks ago. I have been writing about the idea of using sermons as teaching opportunities. In my first article, I highlighted ways preachers can teach by giving tangible next steps for listeners to follow. In the second article, I discussed the importance of learning to communicate an idea well. In this final article, I would like to address the idea of shaping a church culture. Preachers, when you preach, never miss an opportunity to shape the culture of your church. Let me show you what I mean.
Understanding Church Culture
Every church has a culture. You may not see it, you may not even realize it, but every church has a culture. The culture stems from many things, but usually from the philosophy or style of ministry that church members have experienced. This can be both transferred to a church or developed within a church in several different ways. Sometimes, a church culture comes from a church member’s previous church experience. This could be a church they grew up in as a child or the church that a member has recently attended before coming to the current ministry. Either way, members bring a culture or part of a culture with them based on their previous experience. A church culture could also come from the previous pastor. The way the previous man performed or structured ministry has a great effect on the present culture of the church. Finally, church culture can come from the people themselves and their own personal background or place in life. The way a church does ministry is directly related to the church culture. Whether a church is “high church” or “low church,” formal or informal, friendly or unwelcoming, or any number of characteristics stem from the culture of the church. As a pastor, before you can lead a church you need to understand the church culture—you have to understand where they are in order to lead them where they should go. Many different methods exist for discovering the culture of a church.
“You have to understand where they are
in order to lead them where they should go.“
Discovering Church Culture
One key way to discover the culture of a church is by getting to know the people. Shepherds need to know their sheep. As a pastor interacts with his people, he begins to learn how they conceptualize church life, why they do things the way they do, what their expectations may be, and what “makes them tick” as a church. Another way to understand the culture of a church is to get to know the previous pastor. If you are able, a conversation with the previous pastor can greatly help a new man in learning the culture of the church. If this is not possible, one can ask the church members about their previous pastor. I am not advocating “digging up the dirt” on the previous man but asking questions about how he did things and why. Finally, pastors can simply ask questions of the people to discover the culture behind how they do church. All of this can help a pastor discover the culture and lead the people. As a pastor learns the culture of the church, he begins to see its strengths and weaknesses. He sees what elements of church life the church does well, and which elements the church needs to improve upon. Once a pastor has the culture figured out, he is in a place to try to shape that culture towards growth and maturity. One important way he can do this is through his preaching.
Never Miss an Opportunity to Shape the Culture
Pastor, never miss an opportunity to shape the culture of your church and use your preaching to do so. I have been emphasizing using sermons to not merely preach, but to teach. This mentality can help pastors intentionally and strategically shape the culture of the church where they serve. Make it a habit to always have the culture of the church in mind as you prepare your sermons. As questions like “how does this passage reveal where our church needs to grow?” As you ask such questions, contemplate how you can relay the answers to your questions clearly and regularly to the church people. Essentially, you are trying to pinpoint the culture you want to create at the church and then intentionally lead towards that.
This can be done in many ways, but I will share one which I found to be helpful. When I was pastoring a made a list of ways in which I would intentionally try to shape the culture of our church. I kept a record of phrases or quotations I had heard that encapsulated the ethos I wanted our church to emulate. I had a lengthy list of twenty or thirty of these and would regularly use them from the pulpit. In fact, I got to the point where I tried not to walk away from a sermon without using one of these phrases. These were phrases like “walk slowly through the crowd,” “found people find people,” and “ministry is a team sport.” I recorded anything that would stick in the minds of the people and reflect where I wanted to lead them and attempted to include these phrases in my sermons. The interesting reality about this is that as I began to say these phrases more and more from the pulpit, people began to pick up on these phrases and even use them. I can recount more than one occasion where I overheard a church member in conversation reciting one of these phrases to another church member—“just like pastor Jared always says . . .” This is how I strategically and intentionally worked to change the culture of the church.
Final Thoughts
Pastors have an important role behind the pulpit. Pastors speak for God as they declare the truths of God’s Word. Sometimes, however, pastors can overemphasize the “forth-telling” aspect of preaching and overlook the opportunity they have to teach. Pastors, remember to use your pulpit ministry to teach. Use your time in the pulpit to shape the culture of your church based on the text of Scripture. Find things to emphasize and reiterate regularly so that your people begin to catch the vision and develop an excitement for what God wants them to be. Do not just preach, teach. You will find that in addition to knowing more about the Bible, your people will be better equipped to do what it says!
