The best preachers make preaching seem easy, whether John Stott preaching 50 years ago at All Souls Langham Place or Brian Payne preaching last week at Lakeview Baptist. We’ve all heard great preachers go about the task of preaching with seeming effortlessness. When they make it look easy, it can tempt us to think that we’ll one day arrive at a point in our preaching career when we’ll be able to slack off a little and get away with it. But the truth is, even for the best among us, preaching is hard. Preachers get in trouble when we act like it isn’t.
Tale of Two Preachers
I want to tell you a parable about two preachers, Tom and John.
In Tom’s early days in ministry, preaching (and communication generally) was a challenge for him. He didn’t have the “gift of gab,” so he was nervous to be in front of people. Tom had other gifts that came naturally, but preaching was a labor. Yet labor at it he did, painstakingly writing out his sermons and spending hours in prayer and study. No one has worked harder at a task than Tom at preaching. At 40, Tom is a different preacher. God used the energy he exerted to compensate for his weaknesses, and in the struggle, Tom developed habits and disciplines that produced impressive homiletical muscles.
Even for the best among us, preaching is hard. Preachers get in trouble when we act like it isn’t.
John is the opposite of Tom. Always a natural communicator, John found joy in his preaching, as did those who sat under his ministry over the years. But something has happened to John in the past decade. His sermons have become rambling and long—very long. At 60 years old, John is still being himself in the pulpit, but it’s an exaggerated, almost cartoonish version of himself. John’s sermons have become thick on shtick and thin on substance. You can tell he doesn’t put a lot of work into his sermons. His points are scattered; his stories center on himself and seem indulgent.
In his old age, John devolved into as bad of a preacher as Tom had been when he first started out. Conversely, Tom matured into as good a preacher as John had been in his prime.
Attend to Your Preaching and Your Person
In the arc of a preacher’s life, the ends can be more difficult. When they are first starting out, preachers will spend significant time on their sermons because they know they’re green. An older pastor may also need to spend more time because his homiletical muscles have atrophied. But that doesn’t mean a pastor in the middle of his career can slack off and simply rely on the study, skill, and illustration file he developed in his early ministry years. Those who do rarely notice when the atrophy begins to set in. It’s unlikely someone will tell you. So you should always have the discipline to attend to your preaching and your person (1 Tim. 4:16).
The first step in aging more like Tom than John is to treat preaching like the difficult calling that it is. Remember that what you have to give to your people is the meaning of the text. Squeeze the meaning from the passage into your manuscript like it’s water from a sponge. Never enter the pulpit without giving careful attention to each word you’ll say.
Of course, don’t be tied to the manuscript while preaching, but give the Spirit room in your week to prompt thoughts and insights, so as not to be overly impressed by your own momentary thoughts while preaching. There will be exceptions, but generally trust the process and stick with the words you’ve thought through and prayed over.
Praying over the sermon is key. When I preach, the first person I apply the text to is myself, because there’s nothing more dangerous for a preacher’s soul than teaching on a passage he hasn’t first internalized.
Preach with Integrity
Good preaching starts with a godly preacher—a preacher who isn’t saying one thing and being another. Parker Palmer’s work on the psychology of teachers is helpful for preachers. He notes that the only way to avoid becoming a caricature of yourself is to intentionally pursue integrity. You must do the hard work of ensuring your internal voice and public voice cohere.
Good preaching starts with a godly preacher, a preacher who isn’t saying one thing and being another.
It’s easy for the preacher to go into autopilot, mimicking the person he used to be. When you depend upon yesterday’s manna—when you coast like preaching is easy—your inside and outside voices will eventually sound nothing alike. Before long, it’ll be hard to know which is the real you: the Sunday you or the Monday you.
Not many should be preachers (James 3:1). Preaching is taxing, arduous work. Whether you’re newly ordained or retirement is in sight, give yourself wholly to this calling. God’s people are worth it. The text is worth it. God is worth it. Preaching is hard. Act like it.
The Gospel Coalition