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Sometimes My Preaching Stinks: I Have the Mind of God, But . . . November 19, 2007 By Travis K Miller
In Part One, the challenges of two particular facets of preparation and presentation for speaking, preaching, and teaching Scripture were discussed. Four scenarios were outlined. Part Two was an investigation into what happens when we don’t feel we have God’s message to different perceptions, while this week we discuss what happens when we feel we have God’s message, yet that is not always the congregation’s perception.
1. Sometimes I feel like I do have the mind of God, but the audience doesn’t respond accordingly.
I’m anointed. I’m excited. I’m on fire. I have some notes that seemed to just fly out of my mind. I wept and prayed as I wrote. It wasn’t even a struggle to put together my thoughts. It was one of those wonderful moments when I just “had it.” I knew that I had God’s Word for that gathering.
Yet even though I spoke like a man divinely possessed, the listeners just sat on me. Nothing. Dead as a hammer. What’s up with that?!
Sometimes congregations don’t respond because they don’t know what speakers want—did we clearly communicate what we knew and felt? Was our closing clear? Did they know exactly what we were calling them to do? Did they know precisely who we were addressing?
An easy way to discover the answers to these questions is to ask questions of individuals who were in your audience. For instance, at the end, speakers might want to make a practice of asking guests: Did I make any sense? Did you understand what I was saying? Was I too loud?
Speakers have to make sure that the audience clearly understands what we want from them. We might even ask people if they prayed in response to the message. If they didn’t, we may ask them, “Why not?” Their honest answers to these questions can help us to better communicate. When sharing the Word of God, it is always good to recall that, just because I understood God, doesn’t mean that the people understood me.
When the audience’s response to our speaking doesn’t meet our expectations, it may be good to adjust our expectations to fit the focus of the message. When we issue a more specific call to action, there may be fewer people in attendance who feel like it applies to their lives. If we are calling for those to receive the Holy Ghost, and there are just two people there who need it, we ought not to expect more than two people to respond. Furthermore, there’s no guarantee that either of those two will respond. So, if neither of those two people come to the altar, then what am I going to do?
If I’m speaking at a youth service and there are only eight kids in the youth group, then we can’t expect the entire congregation to respond. If we are aiming for the youth, then the maximum response we should expect is for eight kids. We can better cope with this particular scenario if we adjust our expectations to fit the focus of our message.
Finally, after I’ve evaluated my communication and adjusted my expectations, and the congregation still doesn’t respond, then I can consider spiritual barriers within the congregation. It is healthy to evaluate my own spirituality before I blame the audience. If there are spiritual barriers, then real leaders keep speaking, praying, and fasting. Some issues and topics need to be addressed repeatedly. Some people will need to hear speaking on a certain subject more than once. So keep hammering away.
Preaching about conversion is a good example. Without question, it is God’s will that all will be saved. Yet, people in the congregation who need it are not responding. Then a true evangelist will pray, fast, prepare, and preach it again. We’ll use a different text or a different approach, but we’ll keep bringing it back to them until we get them to react and receive. It can be exhausting, frustrating, and aggravating to bring the same topic again and again to the same needy souls, yet it is the work of the evangelist to preach the Word of God to lost souls.
2. Sometimes I feel like I have a Word from the Lord and the church responds in hardy agreement.
This is the situation that speakers would like to see happen every time they minister. There’s simply nothing like it. We come to the pulpit totally wired. All through the service we’re just anxious for all the other stuff to get out of the way because, “Bless God, we are all over the will of God for this service.”
And sure enough, when all is said and done, God has His way as clearly as we felt that He would. Folks line up to shake our hand and thank us for our sensitivity to the moving of God’s Spirit. People tell us that that was the best message they’ve heard in some time. Folks tell us that we are one of their favorite speakers, and that every time we speak, it ministers genuinely to them. Folks ask when we are going to speak again. We leave exhausted and exhilarated.
And we better be careful.
Pride is waiting for us in the office. Or in the car. Or at home in the recliner. And pride leads speakers to destruction. I am persuaded that the reason that this final setting takes place infrequently is because it is so difficult to handle correctly. Speakers may experience the first three scenarios much more often than the fourth because that fourth scenario is so tough to negotiate properly. It’s tough because of our motives.
As Paul wrote, “So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God” (I Corinthians 4:1-5, NIV).
The Apostle Paul brings us to the root of the matter. Why do we want our ministry to fall into that fourth category? I believe there is really only one correct reason to covet that fourth scenario, and pride will kill that one reason. Therefore, the very success that satisfies the pure motive inevitably brings with it the temptation of pride, so that every time I desire that fourth scenario I am also inviting a battle with pride. And thus the paradox—in order to powerfully feed the people, I knowingly invite a personal spiritual battle, placing my own spirituality at risk.
So, why do I want my ministry to fall into that fourth category? What is the acceptable motive for desiring such a move of God? I believe it’s the people. The purest motive for public speaking (preaching, teaching, etc.) is to speak in such a fashion as to prosper the spiritual lives of the people. We speak to the people for God.
Yes, sometimes I feel like my preaching stinks. Other times I feel like I have spoken the very Words of God. Most of the time, I feel like my preaching falls somewhere in between those extremes. And all of the time, I recognize, and am humbled by, the incredible calling to share God’s Word.
ninetyandnine.com
© 2007, Travis K. Miller
---------- Travis K. Miller has been a husband for 21 years, a father for 19 years, and a cyclist for 7 years. On occasion, he speaks to audiences here and there.
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