#7 – Not linking the Gospel to the text
The Gospel—salvation by grace which is made available in Christ—runs like a bloodline through Scripture. As we grasp the main themes of the Gospel, we are equipped to set individual texts within that primary framework. We need to understand how and why God is gracious toward sinners before we can interpret any text correctly. Without this, we will preach an imbalanced—or even a distorted—Gospel.
Scripture is packed full of commands, things God requires of His people. When a preacher does not understand God’s grace, he will tend to preach these commands as steps to salvation. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day had turned the law into a collection of regulations which must be kept for a person to be in right standing with Jehovah. The same thing happens today when commands are preached as the means to God’s grace rather than as the fruit which results from it. Command texts feed moralism, and God’s good commands are turned into a wretched law, a cruel taskmaster who must be obeyed for us to earn God’s favor.
But when taken biblically, we understand that these commands are intended for those who have already been justified by grace, have been renewed by the Holy Spirit, and are adopted into God’s family. The commands are not optional (how can we claim to have a relationship with God while ignoring what He asks of us?), but they are a result of God’s grace, not a means to access it. Without a good grasp of the gospel, preachers teach their listeners that God limits His grace to those who can make themselves worthy of Him.
There is an equal but opposite problem. God’s grace to sinners shines so clearly in some texts that preachers mistakenly preach as if sin isn’t a big deal, that God loves us just the way we are and we don’t need to bother to change. Just as command texts can be turned into moralism, grace texts can be turned into licentiousness. The listener is told that, as long as he is sincere and doesn’t do anything really bad, he doesn’t need to concern himself with holy living. Grace becomes merely God’s lenient attitude toward sin, not His transforming power in a person’s life.
If we do not understand the essential truths of the gospel, we cannot preach any text the way it ought to be preached. Put differently, we must understand God’s character (who He is and how He redeems sinners) before we can preach His word.
#8 – Making the preacher the center rather than Christ
Personality-based preaching makes much of the preacher and little of Christ. This can be done in overt ways, or more subtle ones. I recently listened to a sermon which was so packed with personal stories of hard times, providential answers to prayer, and personal faith that the preacher himself became the center of the sermon—not Christ. I left knowing a lot more about the preacher, but little more about Christ and His Gospel. Brothers, we must not preach for the praise of men. Preaching which attracts people to us rather than to Christ dishonors Him. More than that, we rob Him of His glory as we stand in the way. The preacher must decrease so Christ may increase (cf. John 3:30). We are imposters if we darken His image by our shadows rather than manifesting “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).
It is not wrong to love particular preachers because we have learned that they will dependably preach the truth and lead us to Christ. I love to listen to certain preachers because I know they will grow my love for Christ. Because I love Christ, I am drawn to those who help me love Him more. But at the end of the sermon, Christ must be central in my mind. The preachers I love the most are the ones who show me Christ most clearly.
There is a second way the preacher can put himself at the center rather than Christ. He can make himself the authority. I’m sure there are few if any in our circles who intentionally supplant the authority of Scripture. But this can happen unintentionally when the preacher’s ideas and experiences replace Scripture. We must ask the question, “On whose authority does this stand?” If the listener is facing off with the preacher’s opinion—disconnected from Scripture—it may be that he is preaching himself and not Christ. On his own, the preacher has no higher authority than any other church member (in matters of truth). His authority is entirely derived. If he isn’t preaching the Scripture, he isn’t truly preaching.
That’s not to devalue a preacher’s ideas and experiences. There are appropriate places for that kind of wisdom; the pulpit is not one of them. People don’t need to hear from the preacher. They need to hear from God.
#9 – Making the listener the center rather than Christ
Preachers sometimes fail by making the listener the center rather than Christ. Right preaching is vertically oriented, where people are lifted upward to Christ. Too often Christ is preached as the one who meets my needs so I can have a happy life. We hear about who Christ is for you (what benefit I get from Him) rather than who Christ is. People are given the impression that He is just a conduit for blessings, not the blessing itself. So long as we are content with receiving from Christ we will not be satisfied. We need more than His benefits. We need Christ Himself.
Sometimes the way the sermon text is interpreted makes the listener the center rather than Christ. For example, the wilderness temptation of Christ is not primarily a model for resisting temptation. It may apply to how we should fight temptation, but the main point is that Christ succeeded where Adam failed. Adam had everything—food, protection, a garden, immediate fellowship with God—and he fell to temptation. Christ had none of those comforts. He hadn’t eaten in 40 days, he was in the wilderness, driven there by the Spirit. And He stood, not once, not twice, but three times against Satan’s attacks. Jesus is the Second Adam, the obedient Son, the one in whom we can be reconciled to the Father. This isn’t a roadmap to overcoming temptation; it’s a roadmap to Christ.
Pernicious introversion causes us to see ourselves in every text, missing the glory of Christ. That’s not to say that preaching isn’t personal. Rather, we see ourselves correctly only as we understand who we are in relation to Christ. We will never get ourselves right while we are determined to find ourselves at the center of every text. We need to find Christ, and then everything else will come together.
#10 – Not embodying the text
Preaching should involve the whole person: mind, body, soul, spirit. In my experience, preaching is thoroughly satisfying but also thoroughly exhausting. It requires physical, emotional, and spiritual energy. Preachers aren’t just talking heads; they are whole persons earnestly calling their hearers to be more like Christ. It requires mental clarity, spiritual vitality, and emotional breadth.
Exactly what this looks will differ based on personality. Those of us who are more emotionally introverted will likely not jump up and down on the stage. But our actions and our emotions should all be in sync with our words. It is wrong to preach about joy with a somber face or to preach about hell with a smile. The preacher’s demeanor must manifest the content of his sermon, or his listeners will feel the dissonance and turn away from the message.
#11 – Preaching to the mind without preaching to the heart
There is a kind of preaching which fills the head with information but leaves the heart unmoved. These sermons are packed full of terms and facts which expand the mind but do nothing to motivate individuals toward greater loyalty to Christ. A sermon on 1 Corinthians 13 may teach a person what love is but never call him to be more loving. Facts without application may build someone’s Bible knowledge but they will not make her more Christlike.
It’s one thing to proclaim that God is loving and quite another to call someone to accept it. It’s one thing to proclaim that salvation is available in Christ and quite another to invite someone to run to Him and be saved. It’s one thing to describe what holy living is; it’s quite another to compel someone to be more holy.
#12 – Preaching to the heart without preaching to the mind
In the opposite direction, there is a kind of preaching that tries to move the heart while ignoring the head. While the previous problem abandons the listener halfway along the road, this problem tries to get people to the destination without the inconvenience of travel. Preaching of this sort will tell people what to do without bothering to show them the why and the how in the text. It jumps straight to the action without challenging the mind.
The hearers are told to love God with all their hearts, but they aren’t told why God is worth loving. They are told to trust the Bible, but they aren’t told why. They are told to believe in Jesus, but they don’t know enough about Him to know what that means.
The biblical writers are all about giving reasons for belief and obedience. Paul says it is “reasonable” for us to live our entire lives for God’s glory because of His mercy to us (cf. Romans 12:1-2). Paul says, “Consider this. Think about all God has done for you in Christ. He has redeemed you from hell and reconciled you to Himself. Is there any logical response other than to serve Him?” There is no rational response to the gospel except to give oneself entirely to Christ.
It is a modern mistake to think that faith and reason are in conflict. Pre-Enlightenment Christians saw no disharmony between faith and reason. Rather, they understood that faith rests on reason. Faith is choosing to believe that which you have a good, logical basis to believe. It is not, as popularly thought, choosing to believe something even though reason and good sense tell you not to. No, the Christian life is shot through with sound, rational reasons for everything we do. Good preaching gives those reasons. In fact, if you want to reach the heart, you need to start with the head.
Final Thoughts
If you are a preacher, you may be feeling overwhelmed by this list. I can relate. I’m calling us to a higher standard than most of us have known. It’s easy to get discouraged when we see something that needs to change.
Yet the Bible is always calling us to a higher plane. We are not yet who we should be—and that includes our preaching. We have two options. (1) Defend our style, methods and approach or (2) begin the hard work necessary to change. Many of us will prefer to keep our methods because they are comfortable. Or maybe we’re too busy to change. But the primacy of the gospel demands that we learn to preach the Word. If we can get over the pride that keeps us stuck in place, we can begin to see a revival of scriptural, Gospel-centered, Christ-exalting preaching. May the good Lord help us all.