Preaching When Times Are Tight

But that didn’t slow the radio priest down. He soon picked up Long’s fallen mantle and formed a coalition of the discontented to challenge FDR in 1936. It all eventually fizzled into a footnote, but his story demonstrates the potential power a preacher can wield during difficult times if a clergyman is inclined to exploit a crisis to feather his or her own nest.

When times are tight, great care must be taken not to feed the fears of people. Rather, preachers should be agents of hope.

Though Coughlin’s story is probably the best-known preacher story of the Great Depression, it is by no means the only story, nor is it at all representative of much of what happened across America. Evidence abounds highlighting great spiritual movements in communities. New churches were established; others saw growth that had not been seen in years. Giving trends in churches were actually up in the 1930s over the previous decade.

And preachers rediscovered some vital themes that are very relevant to us today. They have always been part of our homiletic arsenal, but when times are tight, they should be revisited with abounding joy.

Good News for Tight Times

Tight times cry out for good news. And as the proverb says, such news from a distant but precious place is like “cold water to a thirsty soul.” I am talking about a renewed emphasis on Heaven and things to come. This doesn’t necessarily mean detailed discussions about the views and theories of eschatology (though this may very well be appropriate in many cases), but rather a clear and bold declamation about the

ultimate outcome of the life of faith.

Jesus understood this very well. When circumstances began to distract the attention of His faithful followers, especially as they began to perceive that something bad was on the horizon, He admonished them, “Let not your heart be troubled.”

But our Lord didn’t merely offer a kind and generic “there, there” with a perfunctory pat on their backs. No, He proceeded to tell them about a place—a compelling and very real place—that He was going to prepare for them.

The fact is, when current reality begins to let us down—when times turn tough, even tight—this is a moment for us to shift the focus away from this to that, from now to then, from here to there. Our ancient spiritual ancestors, the patriarchs, understood this. They didn’t get to experience the abundant earthly blessings that had been promised, so they looked “afar off” and for “a city whose builder and maker is God.”

If emotional maturity is, according to M. Scott Peck, demonstrated largely by a capacity for deferred gratification, then spiritual maturity must involve a measure of expectant hope or—better—deferred glorification.

Whatever the immediate future holds for Americans, it is clear that we have experienced an unprecedented and unsurpassed period where our standard of living has gotten better and better. This, in fact, may now be changing. No one knows for sure. But times of prosperity and plenty tend to have a dulling effect on spiritual senses and values.