To believe or not to believe…that is not the question. Instead, this Sunday I found myself considering the sermons that generations prior heard while attending church and whether/how the core message of the sermons has changed.

For example, would an analysis of sermon transcripts reveal that churches now are so concerned with the decline in attendance or even wrapped up in the commodification of religion that they are changing the rhetoric that they have used in the past? Are they revising their approach to ensure that they aren’t getting too ‘Jesus-y’ in hopes to win more people over? (I have actually heard pastors state this concern and approach in these exact words.)

While certainly the context surrounding the sermons throughout the years has changed, the Bible verses have not. Is the message so closely tied to the historical context that the rhetoric used in the sermons is in constant revision?