One Downside of Listening to Online Preaching

Once I got saved, a weird thing happened. I loved to listen to preaching! Before, I couldn’t stay awake during a church service, but afterwards I could listen to sermon after sermon online. I loved hearing God’s word preached, and I couldn’t get enough of it. We live in such a fortunate time where we can hear incredibly gifted men preach every week (every day sometimes), on almost any text, all from the comfort of our own homes. And while I would commend making a habit of listening to sermons, I want to highlight one downside of listening to online preaching.

The Downside

One of the great benefits of online preaching is that you can hear almost any text preached by a variety of gifted preachers. And while this is a great benefit, it can also be a danger. Here’s what I mean. The ability to hear any text online from any teacher raises the temptation to be a lopsided listener. A lopsided listener is someone who finds their pet topic and listens exclusively to that topic. Or it is someone who listens exclusively to a certain style of preaching. This lopsided listening can have detrimental effects.

First, a lopsided listener often has a lopsided theology. That person that listens exclusively to preaching on end-time topics, suddenly sees end-time implications in every conversation. Or the person who listens to six months of sermons on culture war topics is somehow able to find the culture war issue in every aspect of life. The danger in this lopsided, over-emphasized theology is that it doesn’t take into account the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20), and often moves a secondary issue into a more prominent place than it deserves.

Second, the person who listens exclusively to a certain style of preaching is in danger of having a skewed emotional range. For instance, I’ve known folks who have gone searching for every time Paul Washer puts someone in their place. They’ve listened to the “Shocking Youth Message” a hundred times, and now every conversation they have is laying the smackdown on some poor soul. The problem is that they take Paul Washer in a very specific context and make it the norm in everyday conversation. While this boldness is good, if blown out of proportion it can result in a neglect of the fruit of the Spirit like patience and gentleness and self-control. The same can be said for those who listen exclusively to pastors who are preaching the bread and butter passages that do not deal specifically with sin. Both can lead to the neglect of verses like 1 Thess 5:14: “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

The Safeguard

So what is one safeguard for this potential downside to online sermon listening? It is being involved in your own local church, with faithful pastors who know you and who are committed to preaching the entirety of God’s word. This kind of local involvement helps to autocorrect when you start getting either too theologically or emotionally skewed. Also, your pastors in the pulpit of your church are able to speak to you with the appropriate applications since they have the oversight and care over your soul. Paul Washer is a great preacher, but he is preaching in a specific context. If we just skydive into those sermons without understanding the context, then we can try to apply that style in inappropriate ways.

---

Let’s keep loving the preaching of God’s word. Let’s listen to a variety of preachers on a variety of topics. Let’s benefit from the excellent resources from godly men around the globe. But let’s make a point to be under the regular preaching of our own faithful pastors. Let’s not be lopsided, but let’s give our attention to the whole counsel of God. May He continue to equip and build up His body through His word.

Jacob Crouch 2024