When you sit in the pew, listening to a sermon, do you have to listen to what you hear? To put it another way, is preaching authoritative? Is there something about the pulpit that compels or obliges a congregant to heed what is being said? I believe we can answer this in both the affirmative and the negative. Yes, you have to listen to what your pastor says. No, his sermon is not authoritative. Allow me to explain. Let me begin by explaining why I believe that preaching is not authoritative. There are many different views as to why preaching would be authoritative. Some, such as Charismatics, believe that preaching is directly inspired, though usually in a manner differently than Scripture, by God. Others, usually independent churches, simply believe that "Pastor Bob" is called by God's man and so you gotta listen to him. Others yet believe that a worship service is a dramatic picture of redemption and that the pastor represe...