Maybe its because I have been watching too much of the Food network, or maybe because I like analogies like a painter likes paint, but I decided a pastor should be like a gourmet chef. Hang with me here:
A gourmet chef has studied and knows what makes food good.
A pastor has studied and knows the word of God.
The same way that a chef crafts a meal, bringing together all the correct flavors and textures that make the one enjoying it say "wow, that is delicious", a pastor should craft a sermon that is a spiritual meal with doctrine that sticks to the bones. Just as I should never leave a gourmet restaurant hungry, I should never leave the sanctuary hungry on Sunday morning. I would not expect a chef to put ham-n-cheese on white bread in front of me and say to me "you can make fancy food for yourself at home, I am serving something everyone will eat", I would expect him to put something in front of me that I may not have tried before, that would challenge my taste buds, that would make me think about what I was eating. Much the same way, I expect a pastor to put before me on Sunday some challenging concept or new understanding based on his extensive study of the matter. I expect to be fed something substantial, so that having a taste of rich, hearty, meaty spiritual food on Sunday, I will crave it even more throughout the week. I pity those who have only ever heard sermons that could be digested before the last song was sung. Just like those who have never tasted anything but bland food, they are missing out and probably malnourished. But, having never experienced anything different, they have no idea that there is more.
So, whether its a good analogy or not, a sermon should not be bland or forgettable. It should be full of flavor and well presented, memorable, challenging and filling.
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