Preacher’s Personal Life

Extended Gestation

/ Peter Mead / 3 Comments

Somebody has likened (with all the necessary caveats and apologies) preaching to pregnancy.  You know the elements of the analogy: something growing within, the building excitement, that something has to come out at a specific point in time, with the resulting post-delivery tiredness and even sometimes the post-partum blues.

Among other elements where the analogy breaks down, there is one that I’d like us to ponder today.  The length of gestation.  Real pregnancy has a consistency of length, preaching preparation doesn’t.  It is easy to fall into a cycle of preaching preparation, from start to finish, taking only five to six days.  This fits between Sundays, but it creates issues.

Is the message able to fully grow, and specifically, is it able to fully grow and work its way into your life if you’ve only been working on it for five days?  “I’ve been studying this passage for the past few days.  I’ve lived with it since Tuesday, and have been applying it consistently since yesterday morning.  Listen to my powerful message from 24 hours of experience . . . ” We don’t say this when we preach, but sometimes we say it by our lives.

Haddon Robinson suggested using a ten-day preparation cycle.  This means doing some preparatory exegetical work on the Thursday of the previous week.  This give it time to stir in the heart and mind before launching into preparation in the week before preaching.

Some preachers suggest planning a preaching calendar a year in advance, allowing for time to do initial study, ongoing research/collection of information, and personal application.  Some advocate taking a week to do preliminary work on all messages to be preached as part of this process.

What do you do?  How long do you take to allow the message to grow, and to make sure it has time to make a mark on your life, before you commend it to others?

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Points of Pride

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

I suspect that if we’re honest, we’d all admit that preaching leads to numerous battles with pride.  Perhaps not every time, perhaps not in the same way as each other, but there is an inherent danger that points of pride will peek through when we preach.  Much of this may be an internal battle unseen by others except the Lord.  But sometimes in our preaching we do things that can reveal, or be perceived to be, pride peeking through.  A few examples:

1. References to “scholastic matters” – You know what I mean, the extra reference to a dispute among commentators, an unnecessary quotation from the Greek/Hebrew, a technical term (punctiliar aorist, genitive absolute, etc.), an unnecessary excursus into matters of textual criticism, unnecessary citation details showing how much you’ve read, etc.

2. Allusions to “hidden stores of knowledge” – This is more subtle, but some of us fall into it.  It’s where you open the door to a subject, only to immediately close it with some passing reference to “that is for another time” or “so much we could say about that…”  Sometimes it helps to let people know you’re aware that more could be said about a matter, but sometimes it can come across as prideful parading of unrevealed knowledge.

3. Demonstrations of “foreign language competence” – I remember reading a theology book and getting very annoyed by the author quoting in Dutch and Norwegian (as well as Latin, French, German, Spanish, etc.), all without English translation.  Ostentatious to say the least.  But actually in our preaching it can be tempting to throw in a foreign phrase or quote.  Depending on the audience this may connect very effectively, or it may just look prideful.

4. Narratives of “personal illustration” – Haddon Robinson always said that an illustration shouldn’t make you look like a jerk or a hero.  Tempting though.  A story in which you gave a stunning response in the moment, or where others acclaimed your skill, or yet another reference to your prize winning exploits in the county fair vegetable competition, or “when I met Billy Graham…”  Maybe it is a good illustration, maybe it does help the message, but think carefully how it comes across, because if it smacks of pride, it will leave a sour taste.

So I readily hold my hands up as guilty of all four charges.  Perhaps you do too.  Let’s think through the next message and try to eradicate any hint of pride so that nothing will detract from the God of whom we preach, who is worthy of all honour!

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How is Your Preaching Toolbox?

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments
So I started into Spurgeon’s Lectures and got about, well, more or less, about a page in before I was “arrested” by his helpful thinking.  Here’s a taster
…
We are, in a certain sense, our own tools, and therefore must keep ourselves in order. If I want to preach the gospel, I can only use my own voice; therefore I must train my vocal powers. I can only think with my own brains, and feel with my own heart, and therefore I must educate my intellectual and emotional faculties. I can only weep and agonise for souls in my own renewed nature, therefore must I watchfully maintain the tenderness which was in Christ Jesus. It will be in vain for me to stock my library, or organise societies, or project schemes, if I neglect the culture of myself; for books, and agencies, and systems, are only remotely the instruments of my holy calling; my own spirit, soul, and body, are my nearest machinery for sacred service; my spiritual faculties, and my inner life, are my battle axe and weapons of war.

Your library, your laptop, your office, your desk, your starbucks tab are all secondary.  The real tools of the trade for a preacher are their heart and their head, their own inner life and spiritual walk.

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Okay, One More Spurgeon Quote

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Honestly, I’m at Keswick this week, moving on Monday, and a little overwhelmed, so I am resorting to an easy source for quality thought-provoking material.  Spurgeon.  Following on from yesterday and thinking about preaching to save souls, here’s a blast worth receiving:

If we ourselves doubt the power of the gospel, how can we preach it with authority?  Feel that you are a favored man in being allowed to proclaim the good news, and rejoice that your mission is fraught with eternal benefit to those before you.  Let the people see how glad and confident the gospel has made you, and it will go far to make them long to partake in its blessed influences.

Preach very solemnly, for it is a weighty business, but let your matter be lively and pleasing, for this will prevent solemnity from souring into dreariness.  Be so thoroughly solemn that all your faculties are aroused and consecrated, and then a dash of humor will only add intenser gravity to the discourse, even as a flash of lightning makes midnight darkness all the more impressive.  Preach to one point, concentrating all your energies upon the object aimed at.  There must be no riding of hobbies, no introduction of elegancies of speech, no suspicion of personal display, or you will fail.  Sinners are quick-witted people, and soon detect even the smallest effort to glorify self.  Forego everything for the sake of those you long to save.  Be a fool for Christ’s sake if this will win them, or be a scholar, if that will be more likely to impress them.  Spare neither labor in the study, prayer in the closet, nor zeal in the pulpit.  If men do not judge their souls to be worth a thought, compel them to see that their minister is of a very different opinion.

Some things have changed ever so slightly, but the bulk of this quote is well worth pondering in respect to our preaching today.  Perhaps it would be worth spending a season in prayer, asking God to make the souls of those around as important to us as they are to Him.  That might prompt prayer, and preaching, as never before.

(Quote from Thielicke’s Encounter with Spurgeon, pp58-9.)

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Projected Perspectives

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

I think most preachers who have some level of commitment to an expository approach to preaching are fairly clear on the importance of understanding the Bible and their listeners.  It is the two worlds that John Stott referred to in his great book on the subject.  I suspect most preachers are less aware of the inner world that Haddon Robinson refers to – the inner world of the preacher.

It is easy to assume that I know more about me than anyone does, except God, of course.  To a certain extent that is true.  The problem is in the blind spots.  We all have them.  We all struggle to spot them or recognise their influence on our preaching.  Let me suggest a few aspects of the inner world of the preacher and how such things will influence our preaching.

The Value System We Assimilated Growing Up – Perhaps you grew up in a family situation where some things were valued higher than others.  Actually, you did grow up in such a situation, for good or bad.  Perhaps a strong work ethic, or a weak one.  Perhaps a high concern for what others think.  Perhaps task over people.  Perhaps a view of the class structure of society.  Perhaps a skewed definition of success.  Perhaps under the pressure of perfectionism.  Perhaps in an atmosphere of racism, or sexism, or any other -ism.  Whatever value system you absorbed, it is influencing you.  Even if you think you’ve processed, rejected, reacted, or adjusted, it is still important to be aware of the grid through which your value system may process information, situations, biblical texts, and applications thereof.

The Emotional Baggage We Carry From The Past – Some of the items listed above result in emotional baggage.  So too does past trauma, relational breakdown, personal sin, the sin of others, abuse, grief, loss, etc.  While some of us have been spared the agony that others have had to face, and the burden they’ve secretly carried, none of us are free of emotional baggage.  Guilt, pressure, failure, pain, loneliness, grief, hurt, etc., will all influence our preaching imperceptibly (to us, but listeners will pick up a vibe at some point).  It is easy to project hidden issues onto texts and application.  We need to prayerfully and conversationally process these things in order to know the inner world of ourselves as preachers.

The Personality Preferences and Tendencies We Assume To Be Normal or Right – Everyone else has issues.  I’m normal.  You probably are too.  But actually we need to be aware of our own quirks in order that we don’t press them onto others.  Introvert or extrovert.  A way of thinking.  A sense of humour.  A view of the world.  An inner wiring to desire to be liked, or to be right, or to be accepted.  An approach to interpersonal communication.  A preferred conflict resolution style.  A level of energy or enthusiasm for certain things.

I don’t want to advocate for self-absorption or self-obsession.  We need to keep our gaze fixed on Christ.  Nevertheless, as we look to Him, let’s be honest with Him and ask Him to help us be aware of how the inner landscape of our lives might be influencing how we handle the text, how we preach it, how we live it.

A Reader, A Wise Reader

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Preachers need to be, as well as many other things, readers.  But unless you are single and financially set for life, you probably don’t have as much time as you’d like for reading.  Join the club.  So this post includes some thoughts, then perhaps you can share your suggestions and experiences too.

1. Reading book reviews can offer a varied input without massive time. I find it helpful to scan through and read some of the reviews in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, as well as a couple of other journals.  There are many sources of book reviews, both academic and popular level, for Christian and wider reading.

2. Break the buyers obligation mindset. So many people I know feel trapped by an unwritten rule that states if you buy a book you must read cover to cover, including preface and foreword, before moving on to another book.  Loose yourself from such a yoke of slavery!  If you pay ten dollars, pounds, yen or whatever for a book, and one chapter is all that you really need to read, then you paid ten dollars/pounds/yen for that chapter (the other chapters were a free gift from the publisher for you to keep on your shelves or give to someone else!)

3. Read wisely, which isn’t just word by word. Preview a chapter before you read it, scan the pages, check out the conclusion, survey the headings, etc.  Read for learning rather than simply achieving the page goal.

4. Be ready to read in snippets. You have five minutes to wait before your ride arrives at the mechanic’s place to pick you up . . . so you read two pages (and when they are a few minutes later, you’ve read more!)  You think you’ll have no time to wait when you pick up the car, but without a book the opportunity is wasted when they take an extra thirty minutes to be finished (does this sound like something that just happened to me?)

5. Perhaps a balanced diet approach might help. I heard of one minister who had a daily regimen of reading for two hours.  Thirty minutes of Bible.  Thirty minutes of a christian book.  Thirty minutes of a non-Christian book.  Thirty minutes of a cricket book.  Diligent habits like that result in a lot of knowledge of cricket, or Bible, or whatever you care about.  Maybe that’s why I know almost nothing about cricket.  Actually, I know about the things I care about, because I make time for them.  Which is my point.

What do you do to help you be a reader, a wise reader?

The Preacher’s Space

/ Peter Mead / 5 Comments

We have just returned from a two-month “home assignment/furlough” and are planning to move house in a month.  Consequently the desk is overloaded, the to-do list is growing like a newborn and things will probably only get worse.  Which leads me to today’s post . . . the preacher needs space.

Desk Space – When peripheral vision is taking in eight piles, lots of post-it notes, growing inbox notifications and unopened mail . . . it’s hard to concentrate.  At this time I suppose I can be excused for taking my Bible, a notepad and pen, and going to a Starbucks, or a park bench, or just another room in order to prepare for Sunday.  But when we move, I need to implement (for the first time, or again) a system that will keep a clear desk.

Schedule Space – When the time flies by and there is more and more to do, this is a problem for the preacher.  Even if you’re not moving or trying to find your desk after a two-month absence, the realities of ministry and family life are always there.  Which means we need to plan ahead and schedule buffer appointments – spare hours, spare afternoons, spare days, potentially even “spare” weeks.  Make appointments with family so they don’t miss out, make appointments with God so He doesn’t get squeezed, and make appointments with an old friend that you haven’t seen lately – Mr Buffer Time.

Mental Space – I don’t mean space between the ears, but space to think, to pray, to meditate.  Pressure cooker sermons can turn out.  In fact, they can be positively dynamite.  They can also be negatively dynamite.  Too many of them can undermine your spiritual integrity, overwhelm your listeners with perceived tension, and ultimately lead to low-level personal meltdowns.  If you are a weekly preacher, ask for a week off before you are desperate for it.  Be humble, admit your need of help.  As it says in Psalm 127, if we are part of what God is building, then He continues to give (and build), even while we, his beloved, sleep.

Other Space – There are other types of space we need too. Space to release tension physically through exercise, to interact socially (who wants to hear a preacher that never has time to be with people?), to enjoy time with the Lord – i.e. not a business appointment in prayer, we’re all good at those.

Suggestion – So much could be added, and please do add suggestions, both in terms of resources, books, but also ideas, etc.  Let me suggest one book.  Getting Things Done by David Allen.