Workshop 6: Preaching as a liberative power of Jesus

 

"Preaching as a liberative power of Jesus"

Preaching is to present the revelation of God to listeners in an appropriate way to them. The message to communicate must provoke a change of attitude in the heart and life of the listeners. This message is to be shared in a world of conflict caused not only by the 'devil', but also by the human beings themselves.

There are the biblical world and the modern world. As John Stott said, a good sermon is a bridge between the biblical and the modern worlds. The sermon must be rooted in the two worlds. However the modern world should not be understood as a global village. We live in different parts of the world and the realities depend on the context of each people. For instance, I've written this synopsis from exile in Aru within my country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Aru, there is no library, television and it is cut off from the central government in Kinshasa. This is the reality of many African countries. Africa has often been a continent where violence, anarchy, misery, corruption, shameful exploitation of the poor, the greed of the rich and the degradation of the respect due to each human being are remarkable.

It means that the tyrannical regimes have misused their power to reduce the lives of people to meaninglessness by cynically manipulating the concept of authority in traditional society. Furthermore, the state, such as in Congo, provided the churches with a juridical framework where all religious institutions, small and large, national and international would henceforth function according to the secular state. This critical and shameful situation is happening in a country where the Gospel has been preached since two centuries, and where 80% are 'Christians'. It is worthy noticing that colonisation and dictatorship of postcolonial leaders has greatly affected sermons in Congo.

So, preaching in the context of my country should adopt a critical understanding of cultural and socio-political situation in contemporary Africa and this must be taken seriously. The sermon should take into account a critical assessment of cultural theological categories which do not speak prophetically to the multi-cultural violent state and the cultural models which no longer function in many contemporary situations. It is to unmask the uncritical and rhetorico-manipulative use of African categories by both church leaders and politicians. The sermon must tackle the current issues to help the Kingdom of God to be established truly among the people of God in Congo. It is in this sense that I would like to develop my workshop during the conference.

 

 

Presenter: Dr Titre Ande Georges, Congo

Rev Dr Georges did his theological studies in Congo and his PhD in England (Birmingham). He was ordained in 1990 as a priest in the Anglican Church of Congo and worked first as the Diocesan secretary, then as a lecturer in the Bible School before he moved to the Anglican Theological College of Congo where he is currently its Principal. He has been involved in preaching in parishes, teaching and other ministries in the Church.