Instructions for preachers (part III)

7. Remember charity. Sermons that depend for their effect on creating a smug coterie of insiders (sitting in the nave), contrasted with nefarious outsiders (sitting in the Oval Office, let's say), violate the spirit of charity. How many sermons have I heard in the last few years that read like Mad Libs on Luke 18? "God, I thank you that we are not like these _____": Republicans, greedy corporate executives, defilers of the environment, fundamentalists . . . Do we not want to "go down to our house justified"?

This point is related to the earlier one about the Screwtape fallacy. Rebuking our own sins is salutary; rebuking the sins of others is usually just self-satisfaction dressed up as prophecy.

8. Know your limitations. If you're bad at extemporizing, write out your sermon word-for-word and stick to the script. If your eyesight is bad, make sure you have the right glasses and good light. If you're the only one laughing at your jokes, stop telling them.