The Blessing Behind the Pulpit

I've had the privilege over the last few months of being part of a great congregation in Toronto working as a pastoral intern. I can't even begin to express how much this has been a blessing in my life, and how much God has used this to work in my heart and teach me all sorts of incredible things!

One of the most fantastic of these privileges that this opportunity has provided for me is that most glorious of privileges: preaching. I started "preaching" (if it could even be called that) when I was only seventeen years old. Looking back, those sermons were pretty rough. No really, they're not good! But in this last while I've learned so much and grown so much, and this time around, several years after those first feeble attempts at preaching, I've gotten back behind the pulpit a couple of times. Were these sermons perfect? Far from it. Were these sermons a benefit and a blessing to the congregation? I hope so! Did God use these sermons to help me in my own understanding and my own walk with Him? Absolutely. And for that reason alone, I am thankful to God that I had that opportunity, and I hope to have many more such opportunities in the future.

There's something about when you are studying a text with the intent to communicate it to others that really makes it "click" for you that much better. I mean, there is a great benefit to personal study for the sake of personal study, but I always find that those times when God's Word comes together so much more clearly is when I am prayerfully approaching the text with the intent on understanding it for the benefit of others, to help them understand it.

Here's the thing, preaching, by its very nature, is one person explaining the Bible to a group of people. This is with the intent that the preacher, someone who, ideally, is learned in the area of theology and biblical interpretation, to some degree either formally or informally, so that they are able to take the text and express and articulate its truths in a way that is digestible for the general public, and will have some sort of direct application to their lives. Now, when I say that we want to make truths "digestible," that does not mean cutting anything out, watering anything down, or diluting the truths of Scripture in any way, shape or form. God forbid that that should be so! Rather, we are trying to take those truths and present them in a way that all of your listeners, from the least educated to the most, will be blessed and edified, and will understand what a particular verse or passage is saying in a greater way, and will be able to take that truth and apply it to their own lives. We are vessels, intended by God for the purpose of teaching and communicating what His Word says so that people understand it better.

In this process of seeking to present the truths of Scripture in a way that is understandable and applicable, something very important needs to happen: we need to understand the passage, and know how it applies to us! We can't preach to others what we don't understand. Many people try to do this, and it shows. When you look at their lives and the lives of their congregants, it is plainly and painfully obvious that something has gone wrong, and that something is, more often than not, that the preacher has not been preached to by the Word.

Our goal is to help others to grow in Christ, and what is so marvellous about this is that, if we are faithful in our duty and responsibility, we will grow also! There is a double-blessing available to preachers, if they a diligent in their efforts, and prayerful in pursuits. Not only do they have the joy of helping and encouraging their congregation with God's Word, but they also have the joy of the Word first helping and encouraging them! So let's make a real effort, preachers, to be faithful and diligent in our sermon preparation. Let's try and apply what we study and learn to our own lives so that we can help others do the same. I guarantee you, you won't regret it!