8 Pitfalls to Keep away from in Preaching

Within the late Sixties, Martyn Lloyd-Jones gave a sequence of lectures on preaching to the scholars at Westminster Seminary. Explaining why he traveled all the way in which from England to Philadelphia to show on the topic, he mentioned,

In the end, my purpose for being very prepared to provide these lectures is that to me the work of preaching is the best and the best and probably the most superb calling to which anybody can ever be referred to as. If you need one thing along with that I might say with none hesitation that probably the most pressing want within the Christian Church right this moment is true preaching; and as it’s the best and probably the most pressing want within the Church, it’s clearly the best want of the world additionally.

That’s a staggering assertion from a former medical physician. Lloyd-Jones was previously the assistant to Lord Horder, doctor to the Queen, at St. Bartholomew’s hospital in London. In entrance of him had been a lifetime of prominence and alternative. A vivid pupil, he’d shortly risen within the ranks of drugs. However he’d left all of that behind to take a pastorate at a small Calvinistic Methodist chapel. Located within the rural hills of Wales, Lloyd-Jones fulfilled what he thought to be the best calling to which any man might be referred to as.

Preaching is a weighty job. It’s no shock, then, that many ministers discover themselves shrinking again moderately than urgent ahead, asking with Paul, “Who’s adequate for these items?” (2 Cor. 2:16). Certainly, in responding to the decision to pulpit ministry, it may be all too simple to slide and slide off the excessive, slim path of God’s appointing into the rocky depths under.

The satan laughs at prayerless preaching.

These entrusted with the duty of preaching—and who see it as Lloyd-Jones noticed it, as a labor each grave and superb—stand to learn from recounting its frequent pitfalls. Doing so ought to all the time present preachers with a clearer view of God and their duty in relation to Him.

Pitfalls in Preaching

Whereas there are absolutely extra, we’re going to think about eight pitfalls of pulpit ministry:

Prayerlessness

The satan laughs at prayerless preaching. Conscious of the ability that accompanies a prayer-soaked pulpit, the Evil One will do every part in his restricted energy to maintain pastors (and their congregations!) from praying—distraction, self-dependence, one other hour of research, and many others. For that reason, the earliest church leaders resolved to be males of prayer and preaching, refusing to compromise both of those non secular tasks, even because it meant appointing others to fulfill the rising sensible calls for of the Jerusalem church (Acts 6:2–4).

A Doctrine–Life Hole

“Preserve an in depth watch on your self and on the instructing,” Paul urges his younger pastor-protégé in 1 Timothy 4:16. Preaching doctrine doesn’t essentially correspond to obeying it. If he isn’t cautious, the pastor might be like these James describes, listening to the Phrase and never heeding it (1:22).

Extreme Reputation

Many pastors—particularly those that labor in missed contexts—would really like a dose of renown infrequently. However with accolades comes the chance of pleasure (Rom. 12:3). In the midst of every week, ministers will encounter lofty reward and undue critique. Greatest they low cost the highs and the lows, lest they find yourself both prideful or crushed.

Crippling Despondency

This hazard is the dual to reputation. Whereas the pulpit can carry the minister as much as suppose he’s terrific, it will possibly additionally deliver him right down to suppose he’s the worst man to have ever lived. He can relate to Elijah in 1 Kings 19: alone, fearful, and paralyzed with dread. Certainly, dwelling below the burden of feeling ineffective and remoted is a component and parcel of preaching.

Laziness

On the one hand, true preaching calls for each ounce of a pastor’s fiber. However, pastoral ministry affords ample alternative for doing as little as doable—simply getting by with the naked minimal. As a rule of thumb, ministers shouldn’t be sitting round of their socks when their church members have had their sneakers on for the final 4 hours. “Work heartily,” Paul reminds the Colossian Christians (3:23). The identical goes for pastors too.

Misplaced Affections

It’s doable to remain near the Phrase of God however drift from the God of the Phrase—to turn into a theoretician or a doctrinaire however to have private devotion to Christ cool off daily. Greed, immorality, domineering management, and comparable vices can all creep in when pastors lose sight of the Lord Jesus. As was the case with a lot of Solomon’s life, some pastors threat being profitable on this planet’s eyes however disastrous in God’s sight. Ministers due to this fact must be vigilant in directing their affections.

Aimlessness

One minister, so the story goes, had an indication in his research that learn, “What on this planet are you doing with these folks?” It’s a great query for each pastor to ask of his ministry. Paul knew precisely what he was doing: “I’ve made myself a slave to everybody, to win as many as doable,” he wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:19 (NIV), and in Philippians 3:10, he declared his need to “know him and the ability of his resurrection.” Pastors want that form of readability. If the person behind the pulpit drifts, his congregation will drift with him.

It’s doable to remain near the Phrase of God however drift from the God of the Phrase.

Capitulation

Compromised preaching usually means forgetting that the first function of the pulpit is to place women and men in proper relationship with God. It’s to mistake the central work of preaching for making folks glad, seeing their lives built-in, bettering their circumstances, and so forth. The pastor is to show hearts, not tickle ears. He’s to information sheep, not entertain non secular professors and members. “Understanding the concern of the Lord,” Paul says, “we persuade others” (2 Cor. 5:11). That’s the cost.

Energy in Preaching

Whereas these pitfalls will hinder efficient preaching, avoiding them is barely half of the equation. The important thing to preaching is to evangelise Christ and Him crucified. Solely in proclaiming the excellent news of Jesus will the minister discover the ability to alter hearts and rework lives.

Paul understood this. Writing to the Corinthians, he reminded them,

I, once I got here to you, brothers, didn’t come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or knowledge. For I made a decision to know nothing amongst you besides Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Cor. 2:1–2)

Paul confirmed as much as Corinth empty-handed, in a way—no eloquent speech, no philosophical musings, simply Christ proclaimed “in weak point and in concern and far trembling” (v. 3). Why? “In order that your religion may not relaxation within the knowledge of males however within the energy of God” (v. 5).

The first function of the pulpit is to place women and men in proper relationship with God.

Little doubt, pastors will sooner or later succumb to at least one or a number of of those preaching pitfalls. But it surely’s when the minister is weak that Christ is proven to be robust (2 Cor. 12:10). The facility of the Gospel is discovered not within the power of the one preaching however within the one who’s being proclaimed: Jesus Himself.

On this means, there’s an inherent power within the pastor’s weak point. Regardless of the various perils of preaching, the ravines that run alongside our means, on the excessive path of obedience is the promise that God’s highly effective Phrase will go forth from those that faithfully, humbly, and unwaveringly preach Christ from the pulpit.

This text was tailored from the sermon “The Pulpit: Its Powers and Pitfalls” by Alistair Begg.