Preaching as Prophet and Pastor

The modern world is witnessing a relentless series of global crises. The proliferation of religious and racial conflicts nationally and internationally threatens to eradicate any remaining respect for the other. The rise of global warming has produced irrefutable evidence of how we are harming the planet with careless consumption and exploitation of natural resources. An onslaught of fires, hurricanes, tsunamis, and floods devastate countless communities and countries around the world. There is also a collapse of democracy and profound political polarization that seems to only intensify amid recent changes in administration in the US. And, of course, the global COVID-19 pandemic has caused tremendous disorientation and death for millions, with Black and brown communities suffering disproportionately due to a legacy of unjust structures and policies. Despite experiences of joy, love, and beauty that have brought hope to many in this season, the reality is that these crises alongside a myriad of hidden and not-so-hidden personal, local, and communal challenges have provoked profound social fragmentation, existential fear, and psychological and spiritual fatigue for people around the world. These are difficult times.

In response to these challenges, there seems to have been a rise in prophetic preaching and pastoral preaching at both online and in-person worship gatherings. However, all too often, the pastoral and prophetic are seen as contradictory rather than complementary. To put it another way, ministry leaders tend to take an either/or rather than a both/and approach to preaching as prophet and pastor. And yet, in the midst of these many crises, it is more urgent than ever to recover an integral relationship between the two. As part of the broader worship life of the church, prophetic-pastoral preaching can be used by the Spirit of God to shape the people of God to more faithfully embody the mission of God as a united church in the world. Thus, in this  article, I want to propose a more integral relationship between the preacher as prophet and pastor.

Defining Prophetic Preaching

One of the hindrances to seeing the integral relationship between the pastoral and the prophetic is the way that prophetic preaching is often described in opposition to preaching that is pastoral. Pastoral preaching conjures images of the preacher as a nurturer or caretaker of a congregation. When prophetic preaching is mentioned, however, one of two images often comes to mind for many people. One is the image of the angry preacher announcing condemnation or judgment against something or someone. The other is the image of a televangelist predicting the future of an individual or nation.

While these images have some basis in biblical and contemporary examples, I speak of prophetic preaching from a different perspective. I should note that my perspective is shaped by my particular experience as an ordained African American male who was born and raised in a Black church in Dallas, Texas, and who has worshiped in a range of denominational and cultural traditions. My experience has taught me that what is prophetic in one community might not be prophetic in a different community. With that said, building on the work of others, I propose the following definition: Prophetic preaching, at its best, critically assesses the status quo in light of the known will of God, sermonizing in the tradition of the Hebrew prophets and Jesus Christ; communicates a compelling alternative vision of the way things should be; and calls individuals and/or communities to take concrete steps toward establishing a new future through the empowerment of God’s Spirit.

Let me highlight a few things about this definition. One is that prophetic preaching is part of a larger Jewish and Christian tradition of truth-telling. We stand on the shoulders of Isaiah and Amos and Mary. In the modern era, I think of the prophetic witness of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648–1695), Jarena Lee (1783–1864), Duk Ji Choi (1901–1956), Óscar Romero (1917–1980), and countless other largely unknown women and men who faithfully spoke truth in the midst of anonymity and obscurity. In short, we are not the first generation to engage in the important work of speaking truth to power.

Second, prophetic preaching critically interrogates the current reality. In his book, The Practice of Prophetic Imagination, which builds on his previous work The Prophetic Imagination, Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann contends that the work of prophetic preaching involves demonstrating how the alternative imagination of the God of Israel made known in Jesus Christ disrupts the dominant narrative of Western culture that he calls “therapeutic, technological, consumerist militarism.” Said differently, a key part of prophetic preaching is the capacity to name the dominant narratives of our culture that compete with the story of the gospel being more fully embodied in the world. Still, while prophetic preaching focuses on the inconsistencies and incongruities of the present, it does not remain there. At some point, the preacher provides an alternative vision for the world derived from the Scriptural witness to God’s presence and promises.

And, finally, prophetic preaching calls individuals and communities to action. At times, this might be an immediate action, such as voting, calling a political official, or participating in a march or protest. However, at other times, the action might be to learn the history of the land on which we live, develop a relationship with someone outside of our network, or reexamine one’s fundamental beliefs that perpetuate indifference to God’s concern for justice.

On the surface, it might seem as if my definition of prophetic preaching is in opposition to pastoral preaching. However, I would suggest otherwise. Prophetic preaching, as the late Dale Andrews has noted, can be an act of “prophetic care.” In other words, prophetically criticizing the status quo, casting a vision of an alternative future, and calling for concrete action to make that alternative future a reality can be an expression of deep pastoral concern. Indeed, prophetic witness ideally flows out of the larger context of intimate, local pastoral ministry. Reflecting on the life and legacy of Andrews, Leah Schade writes in her timely book Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide that prophetic care includes “the dual callings of confronting sin while also extending loving concern.” In this sense, preaching that confronts systemic sin can be a manifestation of pastoral care. Still, I think it is important to stress that prophetic and pastoral preaching take on many forms, and, while closely related, they should not be conflated.

Howard Thurman as Prophetic Pastor

To explore the relationship between pastoral and prophetic preaching further, I would like to consider the historic example of Howard Washington Thurman (1899–1981). Thurman was a pioneering African American mystic, theologian, and pastor who lived during tumultuous times of war, racism, and segregation. In the midst of the various personal and social crises he faced, he started one of the first interracial churches in the United States—The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples—worked as the dean of chapel at Boston University and Howard University, and served as the director of religious life at Morehouse College and Spelman College. He also wrote numerous books and served as a mentor or spiritual guide to countless civil rights leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Pauli Murray, and the late Congressman John Lewis.

However, Thurman is not typically thought of as a prophetic preacher within the Black church. Not only was he quite introverted and contemplative, but he also did not participate in public marches for justice. He stressed the personal more than the systemic, the soul more than structures. And yet, in his own way, amid the severe polarization and racial injustice of his time, he offered a profound example of the integration of the prophetic and the pastoral in his preaching and ministry. Let me point to two brief examples. For one, since Thurman believed unjust social conditions such as racism scarred the human soul, he conceived of pastorally caring for the soul as prophetic work. His criticism of the status quo led him to prophetically address the damage that inequities have on the human personality. Reflecting on the preaching of the interracial church where he pastored in San Francisco, Thurman once wrote:

The preaching deals almost always with the practices of religion and man’s encounter with the Spirit of the Living God. Very little of the preaching concerns itself with social issues as they are generally conceived. . . . We propose to offer experiences of deep moments for the spirit of man during which he can reestablish his sense of direction, lift his sights, renew his commitment and get strength for the struggles of life at the point of his vocation and function.

In other words, Thurman’s preaching ministry addressed the glaring issues of racism and segregation somewhat indirectly. He focused on the liberating effects of encountering the Spirit of the Living God in communal worship. For him, preaching in the context of worship was a kind of Spirit-animated attempt to free people internally, so that they might be energized by the Spirit to be agents of freedom externally.

A second way the pastoral and the prophetic were integrated in Thurman’s preaching is seen in his insistence on treating the oppressed and oppressor with dignity as he criticized the present and cast an alternative vision of how things should be. For instance, after the gruesome murder of young Emmett Till at the hands of White supremacists in 1955, Thurman delivered a provocative series of sermons that, among other things, called for nonviolence in the Black community and warned against redefining our enemies “out of the human race.” After such a tragic event, some may wonder if Thurman could have created more space for what Soong-Chan Rah calls “prophetic lament.” However, in a unique manner, Thurman did personally and publicly lament the violence, pain, and injustice around him—something seen in the larger context of the sermon series from which his words emerge. Still, he was committed to not allowing others’ hate to eliminate his capacity to see their humanity. Thus, in the midst of the great pain Blacks experienced due to the horror of Till’s murder, Thurman states:

When I look into the eyes of a violent man, I see myself. The moment I do this, a miracle takes place. The first fruit of hatred is isolation, and now my isolation is broken. Once more both my enemy and I stand in immediate candidacy to become members of the [human] family.

Thurman’s challenging words are an invitation to heed the radical call for love of neighbor and enemy as taught and practiced by Jesus himself.

These two brief examples demonstrate Thurman’s unique approach to integrating the pastoral and the prophetic as a preacher. For him, a focus on the pastoral provides a humanizing lens for doing the work of a prophet, and a focus on the prophetic provides a holistic lens for doing the work of a pastor. While Thurman was often critiqued for not being directly involved in addressing systemic injustice during the civil rights movement, he and his work have made a profound impact on a great number of contemporary politicians, activists, and artists, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Marian Wright Edelman, and the late Mari Evans. Additionally, Thurman has been a key influence on diverse preachers who merge the prophetic and the pastoral in their own way for a new generation as seen in his influence on Frederick Douglas Haynes III, Barbara Brown Taylor, Tyler Ho-Yin Sit, Kelly Brown Douglas, and Otis Moss III. In short, Thurman’s life and legacy is a reminder that there is no single template for how the pastoral and prophetic should be integrated.

Practices for Integrating the Pastoral and the Prophetic Today

As I conclude, I’d like to briefly highlight five different practices for integrating the pastoral and the prophetic as preachers today.

Building upon Thurman’s example, one of the most basic practices for preachers is to do the hard work of unapologetically discerning, developing, and living into their particular call. While I believe every ministry should engage in both pastoral and prophetic witness, I do not believe every pastor is called to engage in pastoral and prophetic witness in the same way. As Thurman put it, it is vital for preachers to learn to “follow the grain in [their] own wood.” In short, we must not apologize for being who we are even as we stretch ourselves to engage in a more holistic preaching ministry that reflects the way and work of Jesus.

Second, related to this, it is critical to collaborate with others to bolster our pastoral and prophetic witness as ministers of the gospel. In any given church, there are women and men who might participate in the ministry of preaching through sermons, testimonies, songs, or artistic expression that might further enrich the embrace of prophetic and pastoral. And, of course, there is also the opportunity to invite particular voices outside one’s congregation to speak into the church’s preaching ministry.

Third, at a more fundamental level, it is important to remember that pastoral and prophetic preaching at their best emerge from pastoral and prophetic communities. In some sense, prophetic preaching is easy, but it is much harder to cultivate a community over time that is engaged in the often slow and difficult work of prophetically witnessing to God’s reign in concrete ways in a local community. The life of the community itself fuels and enriches the work of preaching.

A fourth practice for integrating the pastoral and prophetic in preaching is learning to read Scripture with a prophetic and pastoral imagination. This is important whether one is part of a tradition that follows the lectionary or not. As some scholars have noted, almost all of Scripture was written to marginalized communities facing some kind of imperial oppression—whether Babylonian, Egyptian, Persian, or Roman oppression. What does it mean to read and preach from the Scriptures in a way that is sensitive to this reality? In this sense, prophetic preaching is not limited to preaching from Isaiah or Ezekiel or Amos nor is pastoral preaching limited to the Psalms or the Pastoral Epistles.

A final helpful practice for the integration of the pastoral and prophetic is maintaining a long-term perspective. As Leonora Tubbs Tisdale notes in her excellent little book Prophetic Preaching: A Pastoral Perspective, this is critical because it is easy to get discouraged as a preacher. Change is hard. And change is slow. A healthy balance of pastoral and prophetic preaching is needed for the often-slow work of formation in a church over time. Of course, there are some issues and situations that need to be urgently and directly addressed in light of the Scriptures. And, indeed, some seasons and communities might call for the foregrounding of the prophetic or pastoral. Still, I would suggest that over the long haul it is best to embrace a both/and rather than an either/or approach to pastoral and prophetic preaching. As homiletician Frank Thomas eloquently states: “If one never preaches a dangerous sermon, or if every sermon is a dangerous sermon, the preaching is living in the land of unhealthy extremes.” Keeping this in mind might not only help congregations better hear, process, and respond to our preaching over time but also help us to better integrate the twin callings of the preacher as both prophet and pastor.