Avoiding the Perils of the Pulpit
Paul instructed his protégé Timothy to ‘preach the word.’ Nothing about that instruction has changed. Now, it is time for my generation to hand that responsibility to those following in our wake.
We, who are called to preach, have been given a sacred trust and a wonderful privilege to ‘rightly divide the word of truth’ and present it to those placed in our trust.
As we embrace that role, there are some perils we need to avoid as we prepare to deliver our messages week by week. Although the Word of God is pure, the danger lies in the fact that it is communicated through flawed vessels.
Here are a few things that the pulpit is not:
The pulpit is not a stage to voice our own opinions and biases.
My late father, born in 1875 and passing in 1970, used to bemoan the change he saw gradually creeping into the presentation of the Sunday sermon. He would tell us that “thus sayeth the Lord” had gradually morphed into “this is what I think.”
Unless we are in tune with the Holy Spirit in our sermon preparation, we can fall into the trap of providing personal commentary on the Scripture rather than presenting an integral exegesis of the chosen Scripture, allowing it to speak for itself. What I may think is of little consequence. What God declares is of paramount importance. The Word already contains the totality of truth (sanctify them by the truth, Your Word is truth – John 17:17). Opinions are just opinions, and words are just words, incapable of transforming lives. The entrance of His inspired Word brings light (Psalm 119:130). It is the Word itself, ignited by the Holy Spirit, communicated through faltering lips, which convicts hearts, leads to repentance and initiates salvation and ongoing righteous living. The answer to dynamic preaching is not better research. The answer is the release of the truth of Scripture by the anointing of the Holy Spirit on the presenter. This only comes through extensive prayer during the time of preparation. We do not create the Word; we channel it.
The pulpit is not a political platform.
It is wise to note how little time the New Testament characters, including Jesus Himself, spent describing, discussing or denigrating the social climate, the existing culture, or the conduct of the secular leaders of their time. They had bigger fish to fry. It is unfortunate that many pastors and Christian leaders have begun to marry politics with preaching. It is wrong to take advantage of our pulpit privileges to promote political agendas. God is neither republican, democratic, liberal, conservative or NDP. He is the Saviour of all, partial to none. When the Pastor uses the pulpit as a political platform, it distracts from the main purpose of preaching and the main mission of the Church. It relegates the Word of God to a lesser place. It leads people away from their primary role in the dissemination of the Gospel of Life, Light and Love. The Word of God does not inflame or enrage people against people. It is the Gospel of reconciliation. It always offers hope and engenders peace.
The pulpit is not the safety relief valve for our own frustrated emotions.
Ministry is filled with frustrations, disappointments and challenges. All of these can push us into seasons of discouragement, defensiveness, and even anger, and they can be a source of vent through our preaching. It is convenient to use the pulpit as a tool to confront people, especially those who have made life uncomfortable for us. Using the preaching opportunity to defend our position or air our grievance is easy. We may be subtle in the presentation and very impure in our motivation. This egocentric use of Scripture is wrong and is always counter-productive. It never achieves anything of lasting value, often becoming the catalyst for disunity in the Body. To safeguard ourselves against this tendency, we should be humble enough to appoint a few trustworthy people who will alert us if it appears our preaching is finding its origin in emotional trauma. Our preaching should always be a source of life. It should point not to us but only to Christ. Jesus Himself preached to the people so that ‘their joy may be full’ (John 15:11). We should aim for the same goal. People should feel encouraged and built up in their faith life after the Word has been presented.
The pulpit is not a judge’s dais where we pummel, scold or cajole the people in our trust.
Far too many sermons are directed towards the people in a punitive or corrective way. I once visited multiple churches in a former communist country where preachers thought it their duty to ‘keep the people in line.’ I sat with pastors on platforms, watching ladies looking sad and beaten and men sitting impassively with ramrod-stiff spines. They were used to being chastised and receiving repeated hammer blows from the pulpit. The Word was a weapon of punishment.
There was one point in my ministry when my disappointment over the people's spiritual growth (and likely my own lack of advancement) led me to preach with a decided lack of compassion. When I asked one of the seasoned leaders in the Church how I was coming across in the messages I was preaching, he suggested that I leave the ‘big stick’ in my office. It was a wise word, which I needed at the time. A shepherd leads the people. He does not drive them.
As we present the truth of Scripture without apology, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to bring the correction, the re-direction, the rebuke. If we assume the role of the Holy Spirit in this matter, we can easily slip into a manipulation mode and potential ‘spiritual abuse.’
The pulpit is not an avenue for us to display theological or oratorical prowess.
Because I love the power of words, I must personally keep short accounts in this area.
We are better educated, more well-read, and have a greater number of resources at our disposal than any other generation of preachers. We must guard against the temptation of exercising professional or spiritual superiority over the people we serve. I hear better orators in the pulpit than ever before in my lifetime. But that does not automatically translate into a greater sense of anointing on the messages they preach. The pioneers of our Fellowship were largely uneducated men and women, living with a constantly fresh anointing of the Spirit of God on their lives, which in turn activated the eternal Word of God through their preaching.
The moment we assume a condescending attitude in the pulpit, the Holy Spirit will cease to move through us. R.T. Kendell, a man with an impressive educational pedigree, Pastor for 25 years at Westminster Chapel, the author of 50 books, now 89 years of age, was interviewed recently by J.J. John. John, a notable preacher himself, asked this question. “You have been in ministry for 70 years. What would you say to the young R.T. Kendall.” This was the answer the old sage gave: “If you were to believe me, I would be pleased. But you will probably say, ‘There has got to be more than that.’ But I tell you right now, I realize that I have got some degrees, but I would say to young ministers today, I would not recommend seminary; I think of Acts 4:13 when the Sadducees saw the boldness of Peter and John, they were amazed and noticed that they were uneducated but that they had been with Jesus. My advice to anybody is two things: know your Bible and pray a lot. That’s it!”
The best pulpit posture is recommended in the old adage: “We are just beggars telling other beggars where they can find bread.”
God works best through humble passion but is prone to resist any polished performance where the heart has not been prepared through prayer.
We can manufacture well-constructed sermons. Ai can even do it on our behalf. But unless the words we share first flow over a heart that has been humbly prepared in God’s presence, the whole exercise is sterile. We are not orators! We are oracles! Ours is the task of releasing the power of God already contained in His infallible Word. We are not speech writers. We are conduits through which God can deliver His truth to His people.
We live in a wonderful Nation where we still enjoy the freedom of proclamation from the pulpits of our churches. Through the genius of modern media, we can preach to the world. Let’s keep the pulpits unpolluted, guarding them against the weaknesses and temptations we, who occupy them, regularly face.
Al is an experienced pastor and counselor who works out of our ABNWT District Resource Centre in Edmonton as the Pastoral Care Coordinator. A pastor to the pastors, Al is a friend, mentor, and confidante to all.