Dear pastor, you’re not a comedian or entertainer; preach the word. It puzzles me how many times I go to a church with hope to grow in my relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus; instead to see the pastor so desperate to get the attention and approval of men that he will spend most of his sermon talking about some personal story, or some funny thing, or something that he read in some article.
Dear pastor, first and foremost, you’re a preacher of God’s word. You have been entrusted with the most extraordinary calling any person can ever have, that is, to partner up with God in proclaiming the message of hope, redemption, and salvation.
In my ministry, some years back, I used to use a lot of funny and witty personal stories to illustrate a point. After all, there is nothing wrong with contextualization. However, I was blind to my pride and the constant pull to get people to like me and approve of me. I remember one particular moment when a young person came to me and said: “ Pastor, I like your stories, but honestly, I came here to hear about Jesus.” It was a loving rebuke that I will probably remember for the rest of my life.
The subconscious idea of success for me was for people to look and say that I am a great speaker and great preacher, not that Christ is glorified in the sermon. Now that I am more experienced and older, I can honestly say the success of a sermon is how many people want to worship our Lord and savior after we preach.
Furthermore, The success of the sermon is how well it conveyed the glorious message of the gospel and brought conviction, transformation and restoration of the heart of the listener.
Dear pastor, do your best not to employ cheap trade tricks to sell people on a product you have not tried. That is to preach things that get a reaction but not growth. To convey information instead of heart transformation. You can find a list of these specific tricks here in this blog: Stupid Pastor Tricks-How You’re Getting Fooled.
But instead, as instructed in the famous passage in 2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the word; be ready in and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
2 Timothy 4:2
Furthermore, stop focusing on all the fringe issues. That is cultural, political, and social commentary. Don’t use the pulpit to settle scores or rage in anger at what you don’t like. We talk about people to God in prayer, but we talk about God to people in the pulpit. Tell people about the good news and the hope we have in Christ. Tell people about the most remarkable story ever told. Tell people about the divine romance between a Holy God and broken humanity and how God himself gave his son to become a Son of man so that the sons of men can become sons of God.
Stop focusing on implementing business ideas and strategies to grow your church. Rather preach, reprove, rebuke, and exhort. Have the patience to know and understand that the work that God has started, He will be able to bring to completion in your congregation.
Stop attending all the latest pastor conferences for church growth and focus on shepherding your people. Listen and sympathize with them. Mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice.
The pastor’s calling is the hardest thing you will ever embrace and do. You will be heartbroken almost daily. You will be ridiculed and falsely accused. But it will also be the best thing you will ever do. After all, what other calling or job has the sole purpose of us becoming a partner with God in seeing a broken humanity redeemed, restored, and saved through the preaching of the good news of what Christ has done on the cross.
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