The Front Porch - What's Appropriate When Preaching

Thabiti Anyabwile, Louis Love, and Tony Carter come up on the porch to talk about the lines pastors shouldn’t cross, as mandated by Scripture and suggested by wisdom, in their preaching. They answer questions that can be summed up as, “How far is too far? How much is too much? When is relevance irreverent?” After all, “a lot of inappropriateness in the pulpit is because we can be some inappropriate dudes!” one of the brothers suggests -- which is timely wisdom considering the recent dustup with Jamal Bryant.

But what about preaching from manuscripts — should preaching only be done extemporaneously? “Well if you don’t plan what you gon’ say, you gon’ say what you don’t plan — and you and everyone else will hear it,” Tony Carter reminds us. C’mon up and join the conversation as these brothers discuss young preachers’ desire to be clever and why preaching is “sacred speech.”