Preacher’s Personal Life

Motivating Earthen Vessels

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If you have been involved in ministry for more than a few weeks, you’ve probably noticed that discouragements come with the territory.  Of course, there are times when all is great, the mountain-top times.  But discouragement will keep biting at us all from various sides.  In this post we will consider one response to the issues raised, then in part 2 we’ll balance that with another possible response.

Discouragement can come from others.  Sniping, gossiping, criticism, comparison and outright attack.  I remember reading Well-Intentioned Dragons, a small book addressing the issue of people who think they are doing the right thing, but keep on tearing down the pastor or minister.  Discouragement can come from inside.  Feelings of failure, inadequacy,  downright fatigue.  Discouragement can come from lack of obvious fruit in the ministry.  It can come from almost anywhere.

Remember that this treasure is in earthen vessels, and that applies to you as much as to your congregation or to others.  Remember that your role is not to make everyone happy all the time.  Remember that God has prepared you and gifted you and is continuing to use you, even if you don’t feel it right now.

Paul wrote about earthen vessels in the context of his own preaching ministry (2 Cor.4).  “We are earthen vessels so that God will receive the glory.  We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; stuck down, but not destroyed.”  At times we may feel knocked down, but we’re not knocked out.  By God’s grace let us get back up and press on for His glory!

Have Times Changed?

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Times have changed.  The New Testament was written in a time when the primary form of public entertainment, at least in the Greek context, was the oratory of the travelling rhetoricians.  Today we live in a time of complex and numerous forms of entertainment, a time when oratory is frowned upon by many.  Times have changed.  In those days the “speaker” was one who spoke with a motivation to look good, to make money and to gain the applause of the audience.  Times have changed, or have they?

If there is a sphere where the potential dangers of oratorical pride persist, it is in the church.  It is so easy to preach in such a way as to look good before others, to pump up your own hype.  It is a constant danger that money becomes a motivating factor in ministry decisions (both individual invitations as a guest speaker, or moving church for a better pay package).  It is a lurking temptation to preach for applause (not typically the theatrical ovation, but the post-sermon feedback, the cloud of affirmation).  These dangers are before us whether we are guest preachers, or local pastors.  But we must fight every temptation to tickle ears, line our pockets or only ever look good.

Here are some basic starting points:

Honor God’s Word – Preach the Word.  If it might make people uncomfortable, preach the Word.  If people’s ears won’t feel tickled, preach the Word.  Obviously be gracious and careful, but don’t preach always living in fear of offending someone.

Honor God’s People – It is tempting to tickle ears and promote good feelings all round, but people need more than that.  Love them enough to communicate the text relevantly, even if somewhat uncomfortably.  Love them enough to challenge errant thinking, dangerous tendencies, etc.  But don’t take this as an excuse for laying on guilt trips all the time – remember that our people need a lot of encouragement too!

Process Personal Pride Promptings – Pride is a temptation for all of us.  It may manifest in different forms, but we must all be aware of it.  Let’s always process any pride promptings before God.  Take the positive comments, the whispering voice of affirmation, the feelings of accomplishment, and bring them back to Calvary.

Times have changed, but not completely.

The Elements of Expository Preaching

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The study of expository preaching can be a lifelong journey. For many of us it should be a lifelong journey. And the complexity of this ministry allows for a lifetime of learning. Consider the complexities of biblical interpretation and the diversity of biblical genre and form. Think about the continual changes in society, not to mention the ever developing experiences and needs of each individual listener. Ponder the numerous variables in effective oral communication, seemingly increasing all the time as advances are made in the fields of communication, rhetoric, education and homiletics. It is clear that there is plenty for us to keep studying and stretching ourselves as preachers: from applied linguistics in discourse analysis to the epistemological paradigms of postmodernity. From family systems dynamics to unintentional perlocutions in the preaching event. There’s plenty to learn for all of us.

But let’s not get caught in a fog of confusion here. The core issues are still the core issues. Preaching must always be concerned with the specific meaning of the biblical author and with the relevant and effective communication of that meaning to contemporary listeners. Preaching remains a spiritual endeavor very much concerned with the work of the Trinitarian God in you and through you. Excellence in Bible study, effectiveness in communication, relevance in presentation, and all of the above in a close reliance on the Spirit of God through prayer. Boil expository preaching down to its elements, and it is not much more than this: God, you, them & Bible study, communication and relevance.

Take stock of the basic elements – where should your learning and passion for growth be focused at this point in the process?

Listening to Others

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One of the challenges of a regular preaching ministry is finding opportunity to listen to others.  There are ways to make it happen though – give your pulpit to someone else sometimes, create a preaching team if your church doesn’t have one, listen to sermons online, listen to Christian radio at the right time if you have the option to do so, attend a conference periodically.  Listening to others is worth the effort for several reasons:

You are a part of the body of Christ too.  It would be inconsistent to believe strongly in the need for believers to hear the Word preached, but separate yourself from that category!  Of course you learn in your study and often preparing and preaching a sermon makes far more impact than merely hearing it.  But the nature of the body of Christ indicates that you need to receive from the gifting of others, for they are gifted to build you up.

Different preaching can stimulate freshness in yours.  A different way of structuring the message.  A creative introduction.  An exemplary use of words.  A different style of illustration.  I’m not suggesting you listen to sermons only to pack your bag with goodies like a petty thief in a rich mansion (although Haddon Robinson does say “if you are going to steal from sermons, then go to a rich neighborhood”)  I am not suggesting you listen in order to emulate their preaching.  I am suggesting that listening can stimulate your preaching.

Hearing good and bad preaching can be highly motivating.  Hearing good preaching is motivating.  It is a delight to hear an expositor doing it well!  But also hearing poor preaching is motivating.  For instance, last spring I attended a three-day preaching congress.  Preacher after preacher.  Big names.  From big churches.  Several were absolutely excellent.  Very motivating.  Others were surprisingly or even shockingly poor.  Very motivating.  I came away charged up to be the best expository preacher I can be.  It is easy to start assuming everyone is handling the text as best they can and preaching expository sermons.  They’re not.  And when you are reminded of that, at a conference, or reading sermons online, you may find your engines fired to press on!

The Blessing of New Year

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It’s the last Sunday of the year.  It’s the season of gym-joining, diet-starting, habit-kicking and so on.  As I come to the end of the year I tend to do my personal review in November.  I ask myself two questions to kick-start my thinking process.  1 – Am I doing the most strategic ministry open to me?  2 – Am I growing?  I find these two questions help me review, evaluate and reconfigure ministry for the next year.

But there is something about the end of a year.  It’s good to look back and work through the year. Recall the highlights and lowlights, the challenges, the surprises, the encouragements.  As a preacher think back to favorite series or sermons, critical moments in the pulpit and out, evidence of lives being changed that may have been stark or subtle.  Give thanks.  It is too easy to march on to the drum beat of urgency and not take the time to give thanks to the God who has made every breath possible.

There is also something about the first of the first of a new year.  Look ahead to 2008 as you currently see it.  Pray for the year, for the ministry, for the people.  Be specific wherever you can.  This will be a critical year for some people.  This could be a vital year for the church.  This is a vital year for the church worldwide, just as every second is a vital moment (two people die every second, most go to a lost eternity).  Pray for a renewed passion for preaching, for ministry, for global missions.  God has put you where you are to make a difference in your corner of the harvest field and to make a difference in the harvest field.

And today, as we preach, we have perhaps a unique opportunity to stir reflection and gratitude for the year now ending, and also infuse passion for the year ahead!

Bible Read Through

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

It’s that time of year when resolutions are made, and often it is about 3-7 weeks from when they are broken! But reading through the Bible in a year is a very healthy idea for both the preacher and the congregation. Perhaps this Sunday would be the best time to mention it? Here are a handful of resources and ideas:

1. Once Through – Steve Mathewson has done the math and shares helpful ideas in his latest blog entry. Remember that many in your congregation will have tried, but failed to read through the whole Bible. Many more probably have never tried. Any help to make it acheivable can only be a good thing!

2. A Voluntary Once Through – It may be too short notice for tomorrow, but perhaps the idea could be mentioned tomorrow and presented the following Sunday. Since people often quit when trying on their own, add the support of others through a voluntary Bible Read Thru program. If people sign up to the program, they will get an encouragement partner with whom will check in once a week and mutually enourage each other to press on (they can bring their own or be assigned one, and incidentally, if they want to, they could get together and share highlights from their reading too). Perhaps the program leader could send an email or letter to participants once every six weeks to encourage them to press on. Perhaps the whole group could come together once a quarter to share both highlights and struggles of the read through. Then at the end of the year have a celebration meal together – for some it will be a massive achievement! All you need is a program coordinator . . . who knows what it might start in peoples’ lives?! (I’d love to hear of churches that try something like this!)

3. Which Order? – It is popular to mix up the Bible and read a couple of chapters from here and a couple from there. Matthewson helpfully suggests a couple of options. I would also strongly suggest simply going cover to cover (less complicated, more context). Some might like to try the Hebrew order for the Old Testament, an author ordering for the New, or a chronological ordering for the whole.

4. How About More Than Once? – I would be careful about this idea with the whole church since it may intimidate some, but there are some people who need the prod the read through several times in a year. Through in six months (7 chapters per day), every four months (10 chapters), every three months (13 chapters), in two months (20 chapters). Before dismissing these timescales, take a look at this article by Ron Frost.

5. A Bible Marathon Once in a While? – Perhap you could use the turning of the New Year to give a first mention to a Bible Marathon later in the year? A Bible Marathon is a great way to soak in the Bible for a few hours for dedicated volunteers. Perhaps going for Hebrews to Revelation (less than three hours) would be a good way to help people finish the read through next winter, or maybe Judges to 2Kings (roughly ten hours) would be a good push through the historical section in late spring? For guidelines from Garry Friesen, leader of dozens of successful Bible marathons, click here.

So how about it? Suggest reading through the Bible to the church . . . and go for it yourself?

Review: Preaching with Power, edited by Michael Duduit

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Subtitle: Dynamic Insights from Twenty Top Pastors (2006)

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As editor of Preaching Magazine, Michael Duduit is able to take good content from that magazine and publish it in book form. This is exactly what this book is. Twenty interviews with top preachers that have appeared in Preaching Magazine and now appear in this book from Baker.

There are some very helpful interviews here. I would particularly note Haddon Robinson on expository preaching in a narrative world, David Jeremiah on preaching through pain, Andy Stanley on preaching without fear and Bryan Chapell on expository preaching.

Other contributors range from John MacArthur and Jerry Falwell to Dan Kimball and Brian MacLaren. From Erwin Lutzer and Lloyd John Ogilvie to T D Jakes and Adrian Rogers. From Jerry Vines to Rick Warren. The contribution is varied and the subjects span a spectrum of related interests.

I won’t extend this review by sharing specific insights from the interviews, I simply want to explain the nature of the book. If you’ve read the magazine for a decade or two then you will have read it all before. If you haven’t been a subscriber to Preaching, then this book might tempt you. This is a worthwhile book to read, or just to pick at when you have spare ten minute chunks of time.

(This book does not break into the top ten must read’s for preachers.)

Practicing What I Preach

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For many preachers life is lived in reverse.  People take Sunday off and come to church.  It’s no day-off for us.  People finish work and come home in the evening, but sometimes we have to preach, teach or lead then.  And the season of relaxed family time easily becomes the busy and draining season for preachers – ie Christmas.  So, since I have a whole week until I have to preach, I will be taking a couple of days off from the blog.  Let’s be honest, you wouldn’t check it on Christmas Day anyway, would you?

The Wonder of Christmas

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

One of the great occupational hazards of ministry is that we can so easily lose the wonder of what we are dealing with.  With the demands of the schedule, the expectations of people, the burden of creativity in a season that comes every twelfth month (but is only fully reported in two gospels), the ongoing reality of messy lives (people still get in trouble, marriages still fail, loneliness still bites, folks still sin), and so on, we can easily lose the wonder of Christmas.

In this post I don’t want to prescribe how to keep the wonder of it all, I just want to suggest we do.  Whatever it takes.  Perhaps time with family.  Perhaps some extra guarded time alone with God.  Perhaps a special treat carol concert. Perhaps a brief journey to a sentimental place.  Perhaps read one of those booklets the church is offering to visitors over Christmas.  Whatever it takes.

Let us make sure that we don’t go through Christmas feeling the pressure and the burden of it all, without also renewing the wonder in our hearts.  Let us be captured by the grace of God that He would step into this world.  Let us be gripped by the hope inherent in the Christmas story for a world of sinners – for Christ came into the world to save sinners!  Let us be stirred afresh by the history-changing event of the incarnation.  Ponder the first Christmas, ponder the reality of the incarnation, ponder the journey from Bethlehem to Calvary, ponder the everlasting nature of the incarnation.  Ponder.  Ignite the wonder again.  Whatever it takes.

Don’t Half Quit

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

There are always reasons to quit.  This is true in anything you pursue.  Sport, music, hobby, fitness, work, ministry, marriage.  Anyone who has ever been successful at anything has had to overcome numerous opportunities to quit.  How true is that in preaching?  There are few things that can compare with it – how important it is, how much people need it, how much you give both in preparation and presentation, how emotionally and physically draining it can be, how open to criticism you become, how relentless the schedule can feel, how exacting the standards are in peoples’ minds for every other area of your life.  To give the Lord our best as preachers we must exhibit a tenacious relentlessness.

The temptation to quit may always be lingering in the background, but for various reasons, good and bad, many of us would not simply quit.  Perhaps it’s a little like marriage among some Christians a couple of generations back.  A marriage could go very sour, but divorce was considered so inappropriate that couples would live out a “Christian divorce” – two separate lives lived under one roof for the sake of appearance.  That’s a danger for us as preachers.  When the pressures build, as they do so regularly, so do the temptations.  Temptations to quit may be rejected.  But temptations to half quit are an ever present danger.

When the schedule is tight and you are drained emotionally and physically, pulled in numerous directions, don’t half quit on your preparation.  It may seem tempting to not really study the text, to short-circuit all exegesis.  When Sunday is rapidly approaching and your energy is low, don’t half quit on sermon shaping.  Don’t just go with your study notes, but try to think through your audience and their needs, think through the best way to communicate this passage to them.  When you go through the post-sermon emotional roller-coaster that many preachers feel so often, don’t half quit.  Don’t make decisions that will undermine your subsequent ministry because of how you feel at that moment.  When you are on the receiving end of unfair criticism or unjustifiable sniping, don’t half quit.  Don’t steel your heart against the people you minister to so that by not loving them they can’t hurt you.  When you love you get hurt, but love anyway.

I’m not saying anything about rest, responsibilities with family, etc.  I’m not saying sacrifice yourself to the point of burnout in an attempt to be spiritual.  There’s all sorts of appropriate balances to wisely employ in ministry.  But those are for another post.  All I’m suggesting today is that preaching is no easier than most other things you might pursue in life, and in many ways it is harder.  To be the best you can be, to give the best you can give, you must be doggedly relentless.  Don’t quit.  And maybe more importantly, don’t half quit.