I preached my first sermon when I was in eighth grade. Our Baptist church had a “youth Sunday” where teenagers from the congregation led the music, preached the sermon, collected the offering, and served as ushers.
My pastor was generous with his time and helped me to do my best as I prepared a sermon for the first time. Predictably, my text was 1 Timothy 4:12: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”
I’ve often looked back on my notes for that sermon with gratitude. The manuscript wasn’t fantastic, but my experience preaching it was. My church was tremendously affirming during that opportunity, gave me more opportunities, and by their affirmation encouraged me to think in the direction of ministry.
A more typical experience might be like the one I had during my sophomore year of college. I was licensed to the gospel ministry by that same church, and I was granted many more opportunities to teach and preach there. Looking back on that time fills me with fond nostalgia and gratitude. My local church kindly affirmed my gifting and character, and they set me on a path to pastoral ministry. How can we do the same for young men today?
Remarkable Opportunity
Years of pastoral ministry later, while serving as an adjunct professor of preaching at Southern Seminary, I regularly asked students if they’d ever preached in a local church. Few had. I wanted these young men to know the experience I’d had. So I invited any student who wanted a preaching opportunity to do so at my church, usually on a Sunday evening.
Local churches in my city are used to hearing seminary preachers. But I wanted these preachers to hear feedback from a local congregation. It’d be markedly different from what the students heard in seminary classrooms. I introduced our congregation to the evaluation guides that preaching classes use at Southern, and our people have spoken openly and honestly with these young preachers after they delivered their messages. It has been remarkable.
Let Young Men Preach to Everyday People
It’s an affirming experience for a young man to preach to God’s people and hear an “Amen” in response for the first time. It helps him see he can preach to a church and communicate the Bible well, pointing God’s people to Christ through the Scriptures.
Don’t misunderstand; I’m all for preaching labs and practicum courses where preachers deliver messages to their classmates and professors. But there’s nothing like preaching to the people of God outside the classroom. While the congregation may not be as aware of the preacher’s interpretational accuracy, he learns to preach in the kind of environment he’ll later minister in.
It’s an affirming experience for a young man to preach to God’s people and hear an ‘Amen’ in response for the first time.
Effective illustrations in a context where the majority of the hearers are seminary trained may not work with a blue-collar audience. Explaining complex theological ideas requires intentionality when you can’t assume the people have read the same authors you have or studied the topic you’re addressing. When writing sermon applications for people who aren’t fellow students, the preacher must learn to think outside his situation. This is a vital discipline for pastoral ministry.
Let the People Affirm the Young Preachers
How can your church let young men preach? Depending on your context, consider having a youth Sunday. Give young men attending Bible college and seminary near you opportunities to preach. Open other opportunities like Sunday school classes and youth ministry gatherings where they can teach everyday people. They need to hear affirming and correcting words from the people of God.
After all, a minister’s call is both internal and external. The internal call isn’t as mystical as many make it. It involves a desire to serve as an elder (1 Tim. 3:1); perceived skill in teaching (v. 2); and upright, godly character (vv. 1–7; Titus 1:5–9). The external call involves a good reputation with those outside the church (1 Tim. 3:7) and clear affirmation of gifting and character from the local church (Acts 14:23; Eph. 4:11–12; 1 Tim. 5:22; Titus 1:5). Spurgeon pushed his students not to overlook the importance of a local church’s affirmation:
Churches are not all wise, neither do they all judge in the power of the Holy Ghost, but many of them judge after the flesh; yet I had sooner accept the opinion of a company of the Lord’s people than my own upon so personal a subject as my own gifts and graces. At any rate, whether you value the verdict of the church or no, one thing is certain, that none of you can be pastors without the loving consent of the flock.
Churches may affirm a ministry candidate’s character and call. Still, it’s hard to ascertain whether he can teach and handle doctrine well if he hasn’t had the opportunity to demonstrate that skill. Our church’s program has provided an outlet for this.
Mutual Benefit
Now several years into this experiment, I consistently hear appreciative remarks from students. They’re thankful for the preaching experience with our church. One student returned to our church a few weeks ago and excitedly told me he was starting a pastoral position the next week. He wanted to come to our church one more time because the experience here had been so helpful.
When writing sermon applications for people who aren’t fellow students, the preacher must learn to think outside his situation.
The congregation is also deeply grateful. They’re encouraged that many good preachers are preparing to be sent to local churches. It gives them hope. What a marvelous goal for preachers and churches: the church offers the preacher help with his craft, and he gives them hope for the future.
It’s encouraging to think that in the future if one of the preachers who went through this program starts an article with “I preached my first sermon . . .” he’ll finish that sentence with my congregation’s name. Let the kids preach. It’s worth it.
The Gospel Coalition