The Peril and Promise of Preaching: While Shepherds Watched...

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Luke 2:8 ESV)

Introductory thoughts    

    I had intended a series of posts this month dealing with various approaches to preaching. The series was entitled Hot Topics in Preaching. I had a text message today which suggested that other topics needed addressing and that it is preachers themselves who are feeling the heat. Taking the information under advisement I assured Wes that I would “think around, over, and through the issue.” I have and I agree with his assessment. Too many preachers are sitting on too many hot seats. Too many shepherds are out in the fields alone, cold, scared, spooked, under attack, and weary. 

    I’ve been there too. I will address what it means to be wounded in ministry in a couple of weeks. Before we go there, I want to address some preliminary issues which I think help keep ministry “manageable”. 

Ministry Defined: Roles and Goals

    My mentoring group The Notorious Edwards County Preachers as well as any group I have ever been called upon to address the subject of ministry knows full well what I have to say about the Biblical foundations of ministry. Ministry consists of 5 roles: 

• Preaching

• Pastoral Care

• Planning/Leading

• Professional Development

• Programming

The order of this sequence is essential. Each of these roles is important but preaching must be central. It requires the most work, has the greatest reach, and is the foundation for everything else. 

    Over the next several weeks (I’m not sure at this point how long this series of essays will be) we will return to this basic starting point several times. If you want to have a long and fruitful ministry, you need to be clear about exactly what it is you are trying to do. (See the bullet points above.)  If you want to learn how to overcome the wounds and weariness of ministry, you need to be clear about exactly what it is you are trying to do. (See the list, two paragraphs above.) Whether you are young and just starting out or have chosen to make full-time ministry your second act, you need to be clear about exactly what it is you are trying to do. (Ibid.)

    The call to ministry is personal and communal. You are called to minister within the Church. Additionally, you are called to a collegial relationship with others in ministry. The titles are varied. Pastor. Parson. Preacher. I prefer preacher because that’s where it all begins. 

Truth Through Personality

Phillips Brooks is often quoted as saying that preaching is “the proclamation of truth through personality.” Not to parse things too finely but this implies minimally a life of preparation:

1. For the preaching.

2. Of the Person.

While that quotation is justly famous, much is left unsaid and for many, the unsaid is where the problems arise. 

    Like shepherds on watch, we must learn much about sheep on our own. Even with good mentors and wise guides we find that the things we learned 40, 30, 15, and even 5 years ago about people and what drives them, change. The Bible is unchanging. The Flock changes so persistently that it often looks like it's vibrating! 

    One mistake that I have made, which I’m sure that others have made is assuming that I was in the sheep-fixing business. I watch and warn. I proclaim and prepare. I encourage and explain. I do not and cannot fix sheep. Only God does that. If you want to flourish in ministry the first thing you need to abandon is the quick-fix, solution-driven, method-dependent desire to fix sheep. You are called to lead them to the God who can fix them. You are called to reach out to those who have not yet come into the flock, offering them a place amongst God’s people. You don’t even fix them. God does. 

    Our sheep-fixing fixation keeps us constantly frustrated because even the best sheep can bite one another, butt one another, and bully one another. And everything they can do to each other, they can do to you too. As the shepherd, you are not a sheep, and you must be able to shape your preaching to gain their trust and attention. You lead them for God and to God. He’s the one in the sheep-fixing business. 

    Decide explicitly what it is you are doing. Determine to let God fix sheep and go about the business of being a shepherd. Accept both the limitations and liberty of preaching. Work hard. Get better. Develop a thick skin. Love what you do. If you don’t love it and don’t care for sheep, I cannot help you. But if you are willing to work hard and invest in the flock and find joy in the journey to the pulpit, I will do everything in my power to encourage you and help you get better at it. We may still limp, but every once in a while, perhaps, we will throw in a leap.