On the one hand, low interest rates are good—for first home buyers looking at the interest on a thirty-year loan; on the other hand, low interest rates are bad—for retirees depending on the interest earned on their savings. On the one hand, a higher minimum wage is good– for those who receive it; on the other hand, a higher minimum wage is bad– for businesses that go broke because of it, and their employees who lose their jobs. On the one hand, inflation is bad– because it weakens the buying power of every dollar; on the other hand, inflation is good– if you are paying off debt (personal or national). And so it goes for every aspect of the economy. President Harry Truman got tired of his economic advisors constantly pointing out the two sides of every economic question, and he finally said: “Get me a one-handed economist. All I hear from the ones I have now is, ‘On the one hand this and on the other hand that.’”
We hear a lot of that same back and forth from the pulpit. Does the church perhaps need more one-handed preachers? “You are saved by the unconditional love of God and there is nothing you can do to make God love you more… on the other hand, you must be nice, go to church, and obey the Ten Commandments.” … “Jesus said you should love our neighbor, serve the poor, and do good to those who wrong you… on the other hand, no matter what you do or don’t do, God forgives you for everything.”
So what is a preacher to do? Both sides of the message certainly are in the Bible. And the preacher should preach what is in the Bible in the specific text he or she is preaching on. One need not preach on the whole Bible, all at once, every single time. There is no need to always smooth off all the rough edges, explain away any possible misunderstandings, and qualify anything that might leave anyone feeling the least bit uncomfortable. The Bible doesn’t do that. In one place (Isaiah 40:1), it can say, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God; speak tenderly to Jerusalem.” A bit later (Amos 5:18), it can say, “Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light.” There is no ‘on the one hand this and on the other hand that.’ There is comfort in one place, and woe in another. Both messages apply to all of us, all the time; and one or the other must be heard without being diluted or compromised by the other.
Luther Seminary professor Gerhard Forde (1927-2005) could teach and preach the Gospel like few others I have ever heard. But he was not a fan of preaching that just smeared God’s love and grace over anything that moves, without proclaiming the rest of God’s Word. Forde said:
Too much preaching today is like over-cooked vegetable stew in which everything–rutabagas, potatoes, carrots, and peas– everything ends up tasting the same. In many sermons the Law and the Gospel become so confused that it all sounds alike and one cannot tell the difference. When you preach God’s Law and judgement, preach it in all its severity; but when you preach the Gospel, allow nothing to cloud that wonderful and unconditional word.
In the best book that I have ever read on preaching, Overhearing the Gospel (1978), Fred Craddock emphasizes the importance of making one point at a time:
It is quite characteristic of the Bible to address particular situations and not worry about harmonizing each message with all its other messages on that topic. The Old Testament can tolerate vigorous opposition to kingship, as well as proud proclamations of the coronation of the king as God’s servant. It can be very open to people from other nations in the stories of Ruth and Jonah, but can also include the exclusive nationalism of Ezra and Malachi. The New Testament can urge one group to become as little children, and tell another to quit being children, without feeling it must harmonize the two into one harmless and helpless exhortation. Jesus can command one candidate for discipleship to leave all other responsibilities immediately, and then instruct another to sit down and first count the cost. The Bible speaks to particular human situations and does not have homogenized treatments of each Biblical theme. It often happens that a preacher will take a proper text to address his listeners, a text sharp and on target, but being anxious to assure the hearers that he knows there are other passages that approach the matter differently, he fills the air with such a balanced range of perspectives that the congregation escapes hearing anything meaningful somewhere between ‘on the one hand’ and ‘but on the other hand.’
Soren Kierkegaard recaptured beautifully this characteristic of the Bible to make one point at a time, with no anxiety about harmony, balance, and symmetry. There is a time and place for organization of ideas into conceptual systems, but it is later. First must come the edge of one disturbing word, or the hope in one word of comfort. Kierkegaard had no patience with preachers who, instead of presenting Christianity as infinitely severe and as infinitely lenient, offered a severity weakened by leniency, and a leniency weakened by severity. No one would have any trouble digesting these small bits of soft judgement or cheap grace. Anybody can do it; all it involves is taking several solid texts of Scripture, pausing to remind oneself to protect the Bible and the people from each other with the principle “There are no contradictions in the Bible,” and then carefully straining the texts through the fine meshes of one’s theological system. The good folk do not even have to ponder upon it, much less be challenged by it, or learn anything new.
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In your journeys to and fro, may God direct you;
In your happiness and pleasure, may God bless you;
In care, anxiety, and trouble, may God sustain you;
In peril and danger, may God protect you.
And the grace of God be with you now and forever. Amen.
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