From websites to preaching guides, the internet is littered with thousands of ways to “supplement” a pastor seeking to prepare his sermon. These aren’t just illustrations or guides. These are scores of fully outlined sermons.
To be clear, preaching aids are not inherently wrong. Issues surface when supplement becomes substitution. Try attending a few different churches. You are bound to hear the exact same sermon being dictated from another pulpit boasting of authenticity.
It is no wonder our culture is saturated with ministries void of the power of God. Men have flocked to websites, podcasts and conferences only to record the words of other leaders so they might willfully play them back over their loud systems. It is the sin of second harvest preaching and it has infected our pulpits at an alarming rate.
An issue older than the internet
You might think this is exclusively common to our time period. In reality, second harvesting has plagued the church since its infancy.
In Acts 19:13-20, the seven sons of Sceva attempt to imitate the power of God they had witnessed through the apostle Paul. It becomes obvious that the sons of Sceva were infatuated with what they had seen the Lord do through the apostle — so much to the point that they said, “In the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Unlike many today, they actually credited their original source. They were not outright plagiarizing; they were just seeking the same results as Paul, void of a relationship with Christ.
It is easy to focus on plagiarism as being sinful. Even secular colleges teach us that. Many sermonizers and peer exchange sites simply tell you to credit where you received your information, but this is an overshadowing of a greater problem. Second harvest preaching can take the place of an intimate relationship with the Divine Wonder. Whether cited or not, the supplement cannot become the substitution.
Results without a relationship
It is to this end that many err in our society today. We want the results of Peter’s first sermon without the time spent in the Upper Room. We want the healing shadow of the apostles without an emphasis on the secret place. Anointing does not flow into us over the airwaves of podcasts, but rather through the breath of a Holy God.
In the midst of the busyness of ministry, I found myself enticed by the same trap. Desperately wanting the results I had seen others achieve, I attempted to imitate those that were successful. Instead of praying, I was looking for something cute and easy — a sermon-in-a-can. Pretty soon my messages were nothing more than regurgitated speeches. I had been reduced to a public speaker more than a man who hears from God.
I frequented websites for quick outlines (which I received at seminary), attended seminars of systematic approaches, and focused more on the presentation than the presence of God. It is scary how fast you can slip into the trap, and unfortunately many never lose themselves from the grips of pulpit recitation.
After going through my library, I came to a stark realization — not a single preaching book I received in three different seminaries says anything about prayer, and it absolutely never mentions presence.
Prayer and presence always seemed to be the afterthought of preparation rather than the mode for preparation. From seven steps to 14 steps, they all scream of systematic approaches to preparing your message, but they leave out the most important facet – God. Though we received paper after paper listing websites for illustrations, peer exchange of sermons, and PowerPoint files, we never started with, “Step One: Seek God.”
It seems there is a bigger problem in our pulpits than our pews.
So what causes this infestation and how can it be overcome? Why would someone choose the second harvest?
Pressure behind the pulpit
There are a host of reasons why preachers turn to the Internet instead of intimacy. Personally, I realize and fully understand the pressures of serving on a church staff are many. Remember it is to this end that you were called — to preach the Gospel. Though administrative tasks have their place, they are not to be your primary focus.
Furthermore, insecurity in your own life infects you with a desire for constant affirmation. Couple that with the sensational list of mega-preacher sermons we can download and you have a deadly combination.
In desiring an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in your ministry, make sure your infatuation is still on the Lord and not on the results that He brings. In other words, maintain your focus on His face rather than His hand.
Though insecurity, church pressures and misplaced infatuations play into the enticement of preaching sermons-in-a-can, the problem really seems to stem from an inadequate relationship with the Father. As we hear the voice of our Father, He gives us insight that cannot be grasped through the endless information found on the Internet. There is simply no substitution for the Voice of God in our lives.
You can vicariously preach through the greatest preachers in history, but apart from an active, living relationship with God it simply will not bear any fruit. We can say all the right words, but unless the Spirit empowers our words, they have “a form of godliness but deny the power therein… always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth” (2 Timothy 3:5,7). Unfortunately, many will choose recitation without the relationship.
The ministry you have been called to deserves more than a mere “ditto” of the podcasts you have enjoyed. It deserves more than a man with plenty of resources and preaching guides. It deserves more than a well-polished speech, more than a business approach to church and more than a catchy title and cute object lesson.
More importantly — He deserves more. More than our laziness, more than our lack of dependence, our self-proclaimed innovative thinking, our downloaded messages, our lack of reliance on His strength. He deserves more than our complete abandonment of His Voice.
Start your sermon with prayer
Do whatever it takes to restore the Voice of the Father in your life. Run to your prayer closets, confess and desire the Father more than anything else in your life. Pursue Him, seek His face and never allow the laziness or busyness of your life to nullify what you and I were created for — to know God intimately.
May the purity of our pulpits be restored as men begin to seek His face. May microphones be silenced where there is no Presence. May the books and websites that mislead be burned and deleted. May the regurgitated words of pastors not penetrate the fleshly thinking of people. May the display of His heart be louder than our words. May God restore us to a point of complete and utter dependence on Him. And may God dispose of people who seek their prominence over His.
Signs of Second Harvest preaching
• You constantly run to the Internet to find an illustration, outline, or movie clip.
• Your sermons are based on illustrations rather than the Voice.
• You find yourself talking about how awesome the deliverer of God’s message was.
• You strive for constant affirmation from men after preaching.
• You preach more than you pray.
• You listen to others in order to regurgitate rather than to hear from the Father.
• You are on your computer more than you are your knees.
• You preach what you do not know.
• You preach without revelation.
How to overcome Second Harvest preaching
• As with overcoming anything in your life, you first must lay it before the Father. The first steps you must take are to confess and repent of your lack of dependency on the Lord.
• Make His presence your goal instead of preaching.
• Do whatever it takes to rediscover the depths of your prayer closet.
• Never preach without being prompted by the Holy Spirit. The best sermon I have ever “preached” consisted of two hours of silence.
• Unplug the computer while preparing your sermon.
• Be still and know that He is God.
• Spend more time loving, and less time writing.
• Don’t allow a book to tell you what to do.
• Make your study time non-negotiable.
• Ask the Father to speak through you.
• Deal with any sin that may be haunting your life.