Preacher’s Personal Life

The Strength is in the Roots

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Back in the 1950’s H. Grady Davis shifted the metaphor for a sermon.  Instead of something constructed by the preacher, a building, it is something grown, akin to a tree.  Here is another quote used in McDill’s book, 12 Essential Skills (I appreciate these quotes at the start of each chapter).

A sermon should be like a tree. . . .
It should have deep roots:
As much unseen as above the surface
Roots spreading as widely as its branches spread
Roots deep underground
In the soil of life’s struggle
In the subsoil of the eternal Word.

The real strength of a sermon is not found in delivery, although that aspect matters much.  It is not found in the structure and content – try stealing a sermon and notice that it feels weaker than when you heard it from its source!  The strength of a sermon has to reside in the roots.  So check the roots of your sermons, of your ministry as a preacher.  Are they deep into the soil of life’s struggle?  Are they deeper still in the subsoil of the eternal Word?  Let’s be sure we are not preaching impressive, but rootless sermons . . . a breeze might just blow them over!

The Generational Dance

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Parker Palmer (in The Courage to Teach) writes about when we as teachers lose heart, and how we might recapture the heart to teach.  He begins by raising the issue of those mentors that first stirred the passion to teach in our lives.  Many make the mistake of trying to clone their mentors, thereby finding their own teaching career a disheartening experience of apparent failure.  Yet when the impact of past mentors is allowed to invigorate us to teach in our own style, then our identity and integrity can be intact, and our vocation can flourish.

Again, what is true for college profs is also true for us as preachers.  We too can lose heart.  We too can find motivation by revisiting the memory of those mentors that shaped our passion to preach in the first place.  We too can make the frustrating mistake of trying to copy the style of that mentor.  And we too can be invigorated to preach in our own style, with identity and integrity intact, our ministry flourishing.

Palmer finishes the section with a paragraph I will share with you here.  This puts the onus back on us, for it speaks of how we now mentor others.  At one level you might say we mentor all that hear our preaching, and perhaps it is best to take it at that level for now (but maybe we should be overtly seeking “apprentices” as we teach):

Mentors and apprentices are partners in an ancient human dance, and one of teaching’s great rewards is the daily chance it gives us to get back on the dance floor.  It is the dance of the spiraling generations, in which the old empower the young with their experience and the young empower the old with new life, reweaving the fabric of the human community as they touch and turn.

It Can’t Half Touch

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When we preach, our desire is for God’s Word to truly mark the lives of those listening.  We want them to learn, certainly, but more than that, we want them to be changed.  We want them to apply the Scripture in their lives that they will not be hearers only, but doers also.  We want them to be moved not only in their daily lives, but first and foremost in their hearts and faith.  We don’t want them to get half a touch from God’s Word.  We want significant life altering and inner change to occur that will flow out in real and tangible ways.

If we don’t want only half a touch for them, we must not allow ourselves to settle for only half a touch ourselves.

We must not fall into the trap of merely looking at the text and building a message for our listeners, without engaging ourselves fully in the process.  Our preparation must be more than a mental planning exercise.  Our time in the Word must be saturated in prayer so that our hearts are changed, our faith is grown, our sin is convicted, our actions shifted, our knowledge increased and so on.  If you don’t want only half a touch for them, don’t settle for half a touch for you.

Process and Forgive First

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At times we get angry.  Perhaps justly so.  But remember the advice you give to others.  I would tell others to prayerfully process their feelings and even forgive someone who had offended them before confronting them.  The same applies in preaching.  You read something or hear something.  It makes you hot with anger or even rage.  It is tempting to unload in the pulpit.  People do respond to a fiery preacher with his heart on his sleeve.  But be careful.

I just read something that really made me angry.  No details here, but it relates to the planned actions of someone vying for a leadership position.  I would be tempted to make reference to this in a forthcoming sermon.  But if I did so, without first processing it before God, I would be making comments with an edge.   I’d be lashing out without preparing my own heart.

It may be appropriate to speak the truth.  It may fit with the message and be highly relevant.  It may even be my role to represent a biblical perspective on contemporary culture.  But it is also my role to represent a biblical perspective in a godly manner.  I must spend time prayerfully processing, and even forgiving, before risking a misrepresentation of my righteous, but gracious God.

Using Statistics

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Some of us may never contemplate using a statistic in our message, others are drawn to them in every introduction they write.  Statistics can be effective, or they can be totally counter-productive.  I was just reading some advice on the use of statistics (not a preaching or Christian source, but helpful nonetheless).  He suggested you decide whether the statistic is being used to add credibility or to be memorable (a statistic will not do both unless it is stated specifically and then restated in relevant terms that can be remembered).  So here is James Humes advice in three points:

1. Reduce the number of statistics. It is better to use one than to use several.  Pick the best one and then communicate it effectively.  To use two or more will only confuse and undermine your goal.

2. Round the numbers in the statistics. Sometimes you will want to stay specific (to add credibility), but for a memorable stat, round the number.  (More than 25,000 is better than saying 26,315.)

3. Relate the statistic to the listeners. Numbers are hard to visualize, so restate your stat in terms they will understand (so many thousands of square miles is better stated as “about the size of …” an area they know, or so many millions of dollars is better stated as “dollar bills placed end to end, this would stretch from Seattle to Miami, or whatever).

Often statistics are of minimal value in preaching, but sometimes an arresting or startling statistic will help in setting up a message or a point in a message.  Be sure to use that stat wisely.  And one piece of advice that should be added for us as preachers of truth – be truthful, don’t twist, don’t falsify, don’t lie.  Integrity matters.

If Leadership Is Influence

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According to John C. Maxwell, leadership is influence.  Now if this is true, then preaching should be leadership.  I hope none of us preach without seeking to influence lives.  While we all may speak to influence, we are not all officially leaders in every situation in which we preach.  You may not be the pastor or an elder.  You may be just a visiting speaker, or a young man being given an opportunity to “try preaching.”  Whether we have an official leadership title or not, let’s be clear that when we preach, we lead.

Consequently, it is important to use that privilege wisely.  What does it mean to be a leader in terms of your own life?  Your lifestyle?  Your conversation?  Your interaction with other folks in the church?  What does it mean in terms of your self-discipline and your work ethic?  What does it mean in terms of your walk with God and your response to the spiritual battle that surrounds leaders?  Being a leader, at any level, has numerous implications.  Take some time to prayerfully evaluate these and related issues.

Sunday Prayer

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Do you have certain things you regularly pray before a day of ministry? I don’t have a set list, but one thing tends to come up a lot. I don’t want to just maintain a routine, or just go through the motions of another week of the same. Somehow church can become something we do, rather than a genuine life changing encounter with God. Now it is fair to say we should recognize the value of regular “normal” church life as well as the “firework” moments. But at the same time we can easily get into a rut of just going through the motions again simply because it is Sunday. My prayer is not to be a part of that. I pray that today lives will be changed by meeting with God through His Word, through worship and through fellowship with other believers. And for that to happen? Well, it has to be God at work. That’s kind of the point of a prayer like this, isn’t it? God, we need you. Amen.

A Shalom Preacher?

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Are you a stressed preacher? Many seem to be. I know I can fall into that too. The weight of forthcoming ministry commitments always linger in the mind. Interruptions of ordinary and extraordinary circumstances add pressure as deadlines loom. There is a weight to bear as you seek to stand with those under your care. Ministry is hard work. The enemy makes it harder. And we become stressed. Add to this the culture in which we live, a fast-paced not-enough-hours-in-the-day culture. In her book, Time Peace: Living Here and Now with a Timeless God, Ellen Vaughn writes, “”If adrenaline flows in response to a chronic state of stress–rather than being on reserve for emergencies–it’s like revving a car engine to a hundred miles per hour, then leaving it to idle at that speed.” (Page 69)

Answers to this phenomena tend to sound trite. Rest more. Exercise some. Spend more time with God. Cast your cares on Him. Commit to less. Guard your schedule. Establish better boundaries. All of these are part of the answer, but none are the whole answer. How would you rate your stress in ministry? What could you do to live out the ordered “shalom” of our God of order, the One Who is not stressed? Stuart Briscoe once preached that when we live our lives according to the orders of the God of order, we will have peace (shalom). Do you preach Shalom? Ok, but do you live it too?

Pondering Plunder as a Preacher

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

In 1Peter 5 Peter warns elders not to be greedy for money, but eager to do ministry. I wonder how this relates to us as preachers? Obviously each of our situations are different. Many who read this have other income and on preaching receive a gift that may or may not cover the expenses of the fuel used to get to the church (especially when churches are giving the same gift they gave five or ten years ago!) Others mainly preach in one church and receive a salary for their ministry, which is then not connected to a specific message.

For the salaried I suppose the temptation to be greedy for money might show itself when it is time to review the salary or the employment contract, or when the temptation to move to a better paying church or job arises in the mind. For the preacher of one-off messages, I suppose the temptation to be greedy shows more frequently over smaller amounts.

I’ll share two principles I have in my ministry, then perhaps you’ll share how you face this issue in yours:

I want to always choose ministry on merit. My schedule is open enough to allow me to minister in numerous venues (churches, Bible schools, conferences, missions teams, etc.) However my schedule is not so open that I can accept every invitation. I have made it a personal goal to always evaluate ministry based on its strategic value, rather than what I might receive (or what it will cost me). So I generally prioritze teaching in a foreign Bible school (at my expense) over visiting a local church that gives a handsome gift to visiting preachers. Thankfully the Lord has honored this practice and I have been able to make ministry decisions without cost or revenue being a factor.

I do not charge for ministry. I get asked what I would charge for such and such. I have appreciated something Dr Jeff Arthurs at Gordon-Conwell shared once. If I were asked to speak as a professional (i.e. as a consultant for a business or in a university, perhaps on public speaking), then I would charge a professional fee in line with my qualifications, training, etc. But if I agree to do ministry, then I trust the Lord to provide through gifts (and if there is no gift, I chose to do the ministry without possible income being a factor, right?) I know speakers much more famous than me have appearance fees for ministry. I’m still trying to decide what I think about that.

Money may not be a motivator in ministry for us right now, but the temptation is always there. How do you make sure you are eager to do ministry, rather than eager to line your pockets?

Remember the Feeling of Privilege

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Just a thought to follow on from yesterday’s post.  Take a moment to remember how you felt when you first started.  Perhaps as a young man when you were asked to preach a one-off message.  Or when you stepped out of Bible school and headed toward doing what you had been trained to do.  Or when you were first commissioned in full-time ministry.  Or when you first received the call to the church you are now in.  Or when someone first asked you a question because you had preached and they trusted you.  Whether you are “full-time” or not as a preacher, remember that early feeling of privilege and amazement that God and people would trust you with such a role.

Over time feelings change.  Perhaps preaching has become a regular experience for you.  You don’t have the same feeling of privilege, or the same intensity of fear!  Perhaps your ministry role has become your job.  You are occupied with your occupation, but perhaps not thrilled by the privilege?  It is easy, over time, for a sense of calling, commissioning and life mission to fade into simply what we do to pay the bills (if you’re paid), or what we do as our ministry in the church.

Whether you preach periodically, or are full-time in ministry, it is a privilege.  It is more than a hobby.  More than a job.  Feelings change and that cannot be avoided.  But be careful that time, pressure, comfort levels, etc. don’t steal the wonder and delight at the privilege of participating in God’s work in peoples’ lives.