A Warning About “Practice What You Preach”

“Practice what you preach” is an old phrase and conveys a solid point. Preachers who don’t do what they preach are hypocrites and do the church no favors.

But the flip side of the phrase also conveys a warning. There are preachers out there who only “preach what they practice.”

These preachers, often unwittingly, avoid preaching on subjects that they are guilty of violating. Or preach to justify their guilt.

Doctrinal shifts sometimes arise out of a preacher’s guilt.

Some pastors will never mention pornography because their own guilt on the issue keeps them from preaching against it. There is at least some nobility to this; they have a desire to practice what they preach! If they can’t practice it; they don’t preach it.

The better option is to do battle with pornography, however.

Some preach to justify the sin of others they value. Sometimes the preaching changes to accommodate changing societal views of certain sins, or to quiet the squeaky wheels in the congregation.

I know pastors who had kids walk away from the faith and very soon after become strident proponents of “Easy Believism.” One gets the impression they preach to justify their kids into heaven.

Paul’s qualifications for church leadership are all moral/character issues. A preacher’s guilt will influence what is preached. Do battle with sin. In fact, a preacher should have a consistent track record of battling and getting victory over sin.

Most false doctrine arises out of sinful conduct. A guilty conscience will warp your understanding of Scripture and what you say about Scripture.

Doing God’s will is the first step to knowing and preaching sound doctrine. If you skip that step, you and your hearers will be led astray.

Yes, practice what you preach, but also improve your practice, so you can preach what you practice.

___________________________________

If you’d like to hear more of my accumulated pastoral “wisdom” that shrunk my church, I wrote a book. CLICK HERE to get a copy of it. There are 9 tips for how to not grow your church for only $3.50!