Some Ramblings on Preaching

*Before I start today I need to say that some of you, in fact most of you who read this who are not preachers are going to think I am over the top on this article - but read the comments by preachers on it and see if what I have said rings true or not.

You are hired by a church to do a job - larger based on a “tryout sermon” (surely a tried and tested biblical formula :)). Let’s face it, if that didn’t impress you wouldn’t have gotten the job, right? Then, after a brief, “honeymoon period” (not sure that that descriptive fits at all) everyone spends the rest of the time you are there telling you how to do the thing that got you the job - the way you did it. So you hear so many voices you forget who you are!!! And then you start trying to emulate those who are talented. Those who have surely succeeded to the point that they aren’t constantly called on the carpet, put under the microscope, “had for dinner”. Those who you like the way they do it! Let me let you in on a little secret fellow preachers, we are all on equal ground here. How we deal with the critics may vary but even the best of the best have them. Here are some of the ones I have personally heard over the last 30 years:

*Your voice isn’t strong enough
*You need to project at the end of your sentences
*You need to be more confessional - stop acting like you think you are perfect
*You need to tell more stories
*You need to use more scriptures and not tell any stories
*You don’t need to use humor in the pulpit
*Why don’t you use more humor
*You need to not talk so direct to people
*We need more first principle sermons (and that is not what they mean and it is typically when you’ve hit on a sin that they are guilty of)
*You need to be relate more to your audience
*Never talk in the first person
*You need to not talk about your wife
*Don’t apply so much - let people figure it out on their own
*Be more transparent
*You mispronounced “pronunciation”. (Well, you tell me, which is it pronounciation or pronunciation. Yep, this is why I got into preaching :))!
*We need more meat
*We need less content (meat)
*Be more aloof - people need to respect the preacher
*You went over today
*Don’t watch the clock

To be fair, many, I’d say most, are well intentioned, even trying to help and some have been very helpful but on the whole, NOT.

I suppose I’ve had more advice on how to deal with this than anything. And I hear more preachers talk about this to other preachers than anything else. I used to think criticisms (I love it when the critic starts with, “now, I don’t want to be critical” - “Hey, Jerrie, give me permission to shout at them before they go further - ‘THEN DON’T BE’”) never affected me. They do. I used to deny they hurt me and thank people - that was a lie I need to repent of. This is my life, my passion, of course it hurts.

Now, to be clear, NOTHING promoted this rant. Nothing that is except everything! We have, by one study, 300 men in our brotherhood a year getting out of preaching. People wonder why our brightest and best choose any other field, why preachers OFTEN discourage their sons from preaching, why our colleges are turning out more youth ministers than pulpit guys. I’ll tell you - who wants this? I don’t preach for compliments. God knows that, if I did I would have quit long ago. Nor do I think I’m perfect, God’s gift to preaching, or the best. But folks as we see the ranks and skills of preaching diminishing we have only our selfish, self-centers, negative, critical selves to blame (boy, that was strong). But when you have God talking about “how beautiful are the feet” and choosing His Son to be a preacher and putting the gospel in earthen vessels and you have brethren who can barely squeeze a compliment between clenched teeth what sort of brotherhood have we allowed ourselves to become?

To be clear, it’s been a couple of months since the last registered “you can’t preach because” complaint I’ve had filed (I’ve thought about a sign like in the factories - “32 days without a complaint”). Our elders even got a very kind and meaningful email last Monday after Sunday’s sermon (you want to win the heart of a preacher? Don’t thank him for the sermon, tell the elders you liked/needed/grew from/appreciated it). I’m fine, I think, I have grown thick skin I suppose my concern now is for the future.

I remember Diane Sasser. She visited GW after I’d been there for about six months and after the sermon said: “that’s the old Dale I remember...” You’d lost your spirit at Hamilton. I never felt it, I loved and love Hamilton. But I did feel a difference in those first few years at GW. Maybe it was that I didn’t know that some of the people didn’t like my style, my approach, me? And so I presented with a different kind of confidence...I was “me” without reservation or hesitation. But then over time that spirit and energy were sucked out of me.

I heard years ago that the elders are Madison never let criticism get back to Brother Ira .I can’t imagine...but I wonder what it would be like if you really believed everyone in the audience was “for” you, in your corner, loved you and believed you were the best for them. I’ve decided it’s the comments that mount up like fat around the heart and choke the vigor out of you. They build up and build up and eventually, you are no longer you. Am I making sense here? Can any of your relate?

God put His message in earthen vessels...imperfect vessels...flawed vessels...so that it would be obvious the power was from Him, not them.

Every time I think: It will be different this time. And it has this time - everyone here was either involved in the hiring or knew what they were getting when they came. But sometimes I feel it again, three and a half years in, that old lack of confidence. It just made me think.

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Before I sign out: One thinking brother reminds me, correctly, that some criticism is needed. And it is or else we begin to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We need people to hold us accountable, help us see our blind spots and where we need to grow. He says: "We all need those we can trust, confide in and be blessed by their honest observations and support. If you truly want to be a constructive critic to the preacher then here are a few suggestions:
a) Spend most of your time in support. Back him when he is under fire. Send him notes when you believe he has done an outstanding job. (I’ve often said that you earn the right to be a critic - dj)
b) Then when there is a genuine need to point out a failing, you will have the preacher's ear because he knows you love him.
c) Keep it private. Go some where to chat. Let the dust settle.
d) Avoid piling on. If you see the person is already getting raked over the coals, don't add to it.
(Thanks for that Trent :)).