No Hidden Preachers

If You Preach, Bring Your Whole Self to the Pulpit

Photo by Kristina Paparo on Unsplash

“Hide me behind the cross.” Have you ever heard a pastor pray that before he preaches? Or what about something like, “Lord, we don’t want to hear my words, but Yours.” Or even, “Get me out of the way, so we can hear from You.”

It’s true that John the Baptist, for example, said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

I think we all appreciate the pastor who seeks humility, rejects self-promotion, and wants his congregation to hear from God. We need more, not less, humility in our pulpits.

But it’s also true that John the Baptist, particularly John the Baptist, completely embodied the message that he preached.

In his preaching, he called people from every corner of society to humble themselves, repent, and return to the Lord. And when they looked at him dressed in camel’s hair and saw that he lived outside of both the misguided religious establishment and corrupt political system of the day, his message of repentance was utterly convincing.

People saw in him the message that he preached.

That’s because the work of a preacher is not merely to transmit biblical information. In all of our humanity, we step into the divine work of God.

Here’s how Martin Lloyd Jones said it,

“A man who imagines that because he has a head full of knowledge that he is sufficient for these things had better start learning again. ‘Who is sufficient for these things?’ What are you doing? You are not simply imparting information, you are dealing with souls, you are dealing with pilgrims on the way to eternity, you are dealing with matters not only of life and death in this world, but with eternal destiny.” –Preaching and Preachers

We are “dealing with souls,” and we’re beginning with our own. Anyone can impart information, and our congregations can find information just about anywhere. But it is the preaching pastor who the Lord has called to shepherd the souls of the congregation as the Lord has shepherded our souls.

So, we do not run away from who we are, and what the Lord is doing in our lives. Instead, we actually humble ourselves enough to expose our own soul as we expose the Scripture.

We are not priests or mediators between God and other believers. Jesus is our great and sufficient High Priest.

Yet, it is through the preacher, not despite us, that God speaks to His people. As we wholly embody the message we preach, we become a living and convincing illustration of the truth we proclaim.

So, preacher, don’t hide behind anything when you preach. Refuse to minimize your calling and the role you play in the spiritual formation of your congregation. Our people want to see evidence of a transformed life, and they rightly expect to see that in us.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

While I will continue as the Executive Director of Everyone’s Wilson, I recently began a new role with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board to help create a collaborative network of spiritually healthy churches reaching Tennessee and beyond. I’ll be working remotely, but here’s a picture of the TBMB’s building located in Franklin, TN on my first day on the job.

EVERYONE’S WILSON | THE EVERYONE’S WELCOME NETWORK

I’m the Executive Director of Everyone’s Wilson and The Everyone’s Welcome Network—a platform for Gospel transformation in local communities.

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