Preacher or Bust (part 2)
Well as all 10 of you know I preached my first sermon last month. First I thank you all for your prayers and encouragement and I especially thank those of you who actually came to show support. The church will probably wonder where all the visitors from that week went. As I promised in the first part of this post I am back to share my thoughts. I needed to take a few days or actually a few weeks to really think about it as it was very surreal in the moment and for a day or two afterwards. I think the major thing I came away with was a loss of dilusion.
While I have accepted the fact that preachers are human no matter how great they deliver God's Word, in the back of my mind I think there was still some "glory" aspect to it and perhaps a pedestal remaining for a few pastors that have been my favorites over the years. All of that is gone. Not that I still don't have an admiration and respect for those men, and not that they haven't and will not continue to speak truth into my life. It is simply that now I understand thoughts that go through their heads when they step up to and step down from the pulpit.
Let me explain. When I play a song, regardless of whether it is a praise chorus or a rock song, usually at the end there is applause. An immediate response to show me how I did or how moved someone was by that song. When preaching there is nothing of the sort. You preach then you stop. No real feedback. Of course there are a few amens...maybe and there are some that will tell you that it was a "good" sermon or shake your hand. Heck, there are some that will flat out tell you what you could have done better or why you should not have said something. So instead of immediate boisterous applause you get a couple of hand shakes and an amen or two. There is nothing wrong this however, it is just wholly different than a music performance.
What I am getting at is that at the end of the sermon all I could do was sit down, make sure that I said everything to glorify God, spoke accurate biblical truths, and begin the process of not worrying about pleasing the minds of men. A very humbling process.
There was so much fear (respect and honor) of the Lord in my preparation for the sermon that I was ready to obey and say anything He wanted me to say, but I was also afraid of what might be said afterwards. This leads me to believe that a good preacher is just a man who will obediently be a messenger of God to His people. A soldier if you will. Armed and ready for battle and constant attack, but knowing all the while that if He does not obey that the troops he was called to protect and lead will face certain ambush. There is very little accolade. There is more discouragement than encouragement, but in the end the soldier is only concerned with hearing his general say "Well done!"
While I have accepted the fact that preachers are human no matter how great they deliver God's Word, in the back of my mind I think there was still some "glory" aspect to it and perhaps a pedestal remaining for a few pastors that have been my favorites over the years. All of that is gone. Not that I still don't have an admiration and respect for those men, and not that they haven't and will not continue to speak truth into my life. It is simply that now I understand thoughts that go through their heads when they step up to and step down from the pulpit.
Let me explain. When I play a song, regardless of whether it is a praise chorus or a rock song, usually at the end there is applause. An immediate response to show me how I did or how moved someone was by that song. When preaching there is nothing of the sort. You preach then you stop. No real feedback. Of course there are a few amens...maybe and there are some that will tell you that it was a "good" sermon or shake your hand. Heck, there are some that will flat out tell you what you could have done better or why you should not have said something. So instead of immediate boisterous applause you get a couple of hand shakes and an amen or two. There is nothing wrong this however, it is just wholly different than a music performance.
What I am getting at is that at the end of the sermon all I could do was sit down, make sure that I said everything to glorify God, spoke accurate biblical truths, and begin the process of not worrying about pleasing the minds of men. A very humbling process.
There was so much fear (respect and honor) of the Lord in my preparation for the sermon that I was ready to obey and say anything He wanted me to say, but I was also afraid of what might be said afterwards. This leads me to believe that a good preacher is just a man who will obediently be a messenger of God to His people. A soldier if you will. Armed and ready for battle and constant attack, but knowing all the while that if He does not obey that the troops he was called to protect and lead will face certain ambush. There is very little accolade. There is more discouragement than encouragement, but in the end the soldier is only concerned with hearing his general say "Well done!"
Comments
It made me realize just how difficult a job it is. It is a special person and calling to be a preacher.
I'm sorry we missed your sermon!