How To Preach Better Sermons

1 Timothy 1:5-7

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

The point of ministry within the church is love. Love, in fact, is the point of the life of any believer, not just those in church leadership. The only way to truly love others is to have a pure heart, good conscience, and a sincere faith.

The opposite direction of a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith is “vain discussion.” People not sincerely following the Lord can’t speak truth. People don’t talk about what they aren’t doing.

Guilt is funny that way. I preached several times a week for 21 years. I know the stuff I skipped, the verses I didn’t go into too much detail right then.

When I listen to other pastors preach I’m fascinated to note what verses they skip, or what theological ideas they circumvent and explain away.

“Vain discussion” is translated as “vain jangling” in the King James. I like that better. It sounds more accurate! It’s just empty words signifying nothing. Noise. Pomp.

Pastors who skip the plain meaning of verses and instead pontificate about their own ideas, their verbal gymnastics to explain away clear commands, are revealing for anyone who is interested that their conscience is not good. That there’s something wrong in them. They know what it is. I don’t, nor do I want to speculate, but something is off.

This is Paul’s word, not mine. If you don’t live sincerely and honestly before God, you will use confusing, empty, misleading language, most of it leading to nothing in the end. Oh, it took up time, it sure sounded like you were saying something, but in the end no truth was conveyed.

I’ve listened to many of these sermons.

Many of these guys, according to Paul, want to be teachers of the law even though they have no idea what they are talking about.

Perhaps he’s going after legalists in particular, but I think we do a disservice if we limit it to that group. Guys who relish telling other people what to do are often covering their own rebellion.

The preachers who rail on sin the most vocally and outrageously, are often making up for their own guilty conscience. I know guys who were staunch defenders of law commands who later were disqualified from ministry for doing the vary things they railed against, or sometimes the one part of the law they never brought up!

Paul says they don’t understand their own confident assertions.

There’s a pastor I know, I’ve heard many of his sermons, who whenever he departs from Scripture to pontificate about his own theories, his volume rises and his finger wags at the congregation. It’s almost a guarantee, the louder and more exuberant a preacher gets, the more seemingly confident they act, that’s when they’ve veered from Scripture the most.

The best way to preach good sermons, to uphold Scripture in word and deed, is to actually live by it. Having a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith is the best way to have right doctrine and sound preaching.

Departing from your own personal virtue before the Lord will lead you to preach empty sermons, riling people up about vain commands, and misleading people to follow your own proud assertions.

Souls are on the line. Get yours right before preaching to others.

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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!

Preach Biblical Doctrine. That’s it. Just Biblical Doctrine. Period.

1 Timothy 1:3-4

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

According to Paul, Timothy’s main job as a shepherd of the church at Ephesus was to continue teaching the apostle’s doctrine. If a church/pastor is not going to teach biblical doctrine, what will they teach?

Paul says your other options are “different doctrine,” “myths,” and “endless genealogies.”

“Different doctrine” seems pretty straight forward! It’s just other stuff you’re teaching that has nothing to do with the Bible. Notice he didn’t even say “false doctrine.” There are other things you can teach that are true and fine, just aren’t supposed to be taught in the church.

In other words, a guy could get up and teach about how to pay off your mortgage efficiently, or change the oil in your car, or any number of other things. If you want to do that, do it on your own time. The purpose of the church is to teach biblical doctrine as revealed by the apostles. Period. That’s it. Nothing else.

“Myths” are stories, fictional accounts, words that are designed to entertain rather than instruct from Scripture. Perhaps showing modern day movie clips as sermon illustrations would fit in, I don’t know, who’s to say? Me, that’s who. Don’t do that.

Also beware of your sermon illustrations you get off the internet or from a book. So many of these illustrations are not true. They are fiction. When frogs are placed in pots of water, as the water heats up the frog will indeed try to get out. How dumb do you think they are? All living things have a desire to stay living. They don’t just sit there and get boiled to death. Sheesh. Look up some stuff.

People charged with detecting counterfeit dollars don’t just sit and stare at real dollars all day so they can identify fake ones. Nope, they study what counterfeiters are up to, learn their tricks, and watch out for that.

Eagles don’t fly above storm clouds. Eagles are birds. In storms eagles act like birds. What do birds do in storms? They sit around and wait. That’s what eagles do. Stop telling people to soar above the storms like the eagles, man. No eagle does that.

I could go on. Any sermon illustration that is popular should immediately make you skeptical. It’s fake. It’s not real, I can almost guarantee it.

Maybe you don’t think it’s a big deal to tell a false story to make a spiritual point. If you are standing in front of a church you are required to speak truth. Only speak what is true. Check your sources.

“Endless genealogies” could mean several things. Some think this is a Jewish thing where they look at the genealogical records in the OT and celebrate the awesomeness of their family or tribe, turning these records into reason to be superior to others.

Some think it has to do with things like dating historical events. Like Bishop Usher coming up with the exact time the earth was created (October 22, 4004 BC if you’re wondering).

I have no idea what this term really means. What I do know is this: Don’t be talking about your past as though it were the barometer of your present state. Whether we’re talking family or church tradition or strictly biblical genealogies, doesn’t matter. Past performance is no indicator of present conditions or future results.

All these things, different doctrines, myths, endless genealogies, all have the same effect: endless arguing and questions.

One thing that drove me nuts after 21 years of pastoring was the amount of stupid arguments I had to be in all the time. I started very few of these, but there were people who came into the church with axes to grind, people who were not dedicated to the truth of Scripture, but caught up on some stupid opinion of theirs based on an obscure verse or variant doctrine whose origin remains unknown.

I actually had a guy in our church who argued about genealogies all the time. Once at an evening basketball game for men our church put on, he took himself out of the game to sit by me on the bench and immediately launched into his genealogy argument on me.

I never in my life started an argument about genealogies; I’m nailing this part of the Pastoral Epistles. But that doesn’t mean I was never in an argument about genealogies!

People like to argue. Gentiles seek wisdom, we like to sit around and pontificate and hear some new thing. Mars Hill in Acts 17 is still where many people hang out.

Learn to shun these conversations, maybe even the people after a while. Goodness. Drop it. Let it go. Endless arguing does no favors for anyone.

Preach biblical doctrine. That’s it. Any time you open your mouth before the church, biblical doctrine should be coming out of it. That’s it! Nothing else. I don’t care about the cute illustration you saw on the internet. I don’t care about your family tradition and Uncle Randy’s theory about “new wine.”

Don’t care. Doesn’t matter. Biblical doctrine. That’s it.

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Arguing Over Doctrine Might Be the Most Edifying Activity in Your Church!

Unfortunately, I find myself in the middle of yet another battle over wrong doctrine.

I am yet again contemplating never setting foot in a church again. It would take care of the problem in one way: I’d be blissfully ignorant of all church problems. At the same time, those churches would still have problems.

Running away and abandoning the church sure sounds like it would be lovely. I know some who have done it. Half have gone crazy into very strange doctrine, and the other half are busy justifying themselves by convincing me to do the same, not quite confident enough to actually go it alone, they must convince others to be alone with them.

I’m coming to consider whether all the battling over error in the church isn’t actually the thing that edifies us.

Simple truth should edify us, but since truth is apparently hard to keep hold of, battling error seems to pick up the slack in the edification department. Few things have gotten me to examine Scripture more than checking doctrines that sound off. Some aren’t, and boy howdy, some sure are.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:19 that “there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.” The presence of divisions over error is how we see who is legit.

Perhaps the way to advance in truth is by one step after another in combatting error. No conflict with error; no advance in truth. Churches who maintain happy outward unity are often the places with the shallowest doctrine.

I don’t like arguing. I avoid it as much as possible. I am by no means a people pleaser though. I will argue if I have to, and hopefully that is when the truth is under fire. However, just because I don’t agree with someone doesn’t mean they are in error. Sometimes I forget that. I’ve been wrong too.

Often it’s through disagreeing with people that truth can be seen. The truth will prevail, either through argument or through the test of time and observing fruit.

Would life be easier if I avoided church? Probably. Life might even be easier for churches if I avoided them!

The truth is worth fighting for. Everything within me wants to run away, just quietly slip into the fog and never be seen again. It’s just me and Elijah, the only ones left, and Elijah is dead.

But Elijah got rebuked for running from the fight. Jonah got swallowed by a big fish for running from the fight. Part of the fight of faith is contending for the truth.

Ezekiel says you at least give the warning. If they don’t listen, that’s on them, but if you fail to warn, that’s on you.

Humility is necessary. Knowledge puffs up. I have to examine myself at all times lest I also be tempted. Arguing with people can push you into more and more extreme beliefs.

If all you do is argue with Christians, you’re probably doing it wrong. If you never argue with Christians you’re probably doing it wrong. You have to fight at some point, and it’s a fight worth fighting. Holding others accountable. Iron sharpening iron.

Because the more we do this the right way, the more we will be held accountable and the more we will be sharpened.

Unfortunately, we bring emotions and feelings in and really make a mess of things.

Truth strikes me as being pretty calm. Oh, there are times to be emotional, Jesus and Paul both demonstrated that. But we have to be careful. One of the best ways to check how emotional you are is to see how well you’re listening to the other person. Emotions make deaf ears.

In the end, we live in a fallen world. In the new heavens and new earth, no one will have to be taught about the Lord because everyone will know Him.

I cannot wait for that day! To know Him and be surrounded by everyone else who knows Him. Until then, phew, it’s tough. People are pretty sloppy with Scripture and put a lot of other things in places of authority besides Jesus Christ and His Word.

Do we quit? Do we give up? You can, guess I can’t stop you, but I’ve found it’s in those moments of conflict, of contending, of working through doctrinal disagreements, that the most growth and reliance on God occurs.

I pray this is true for you. I pray it’s true for me. I pray for the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because I am getting tired.

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If you’d like to hear more of my accumulated pastoral “wisdom,” 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!

5 Reasons Why People Ask Their Pastors Questions

“There’s no such thing as a dumb question” is a popular quote. I’m not sure why, because it’s incredibly wrong.

As a pastor, you might think it’s a good thing that people ask you questions. It might be. It might mean you are approachable and humble enough to be questioned. It might even mean that people value your answers.

It might.

It doesn’t, but it might.

In my pastoral experience I have found most questions have other motives besides getting an answer. Here are some popular reasons why people ask pastors questions:

1. Tests and traps
Some of these questions almost sound sincere, like they are really thinking about theology, maybe even your sermon, but really they’re trapping you. Taking a page out of the Pharisee’s playbook, they are trying to corner you and pounce on you when you unwittingly answer their carefully crafted trap question. These people will keep coming at you and they start with a question every time. When they approach, your heart drops because you know they’re ready to brawl.

2. For permission
Having a question is a nice way to get the pastor to approve the thing you want to do. “Do you think people should get tattoos/smoke weed/drink alcohol/get divorced?” It’s never “me” or “I,” it’s always “people.” They don’t care about your answer, they’re looking for permission. And if they don’t like your answer, no worries, they’ll keep asking the question until they find someone who will give them the answer/permission they want. You might be flattered that they cared to ask you. Don’t be, you’re the seventh person they’ve asked.

3. They were too stupid to listen earlier
If people would simply listen most questions would disappear. If they had listened to the 43 announcements or the previous eight times you preached on that very topic, they wouldn’t have to waste their breath and your time asking questions. If they’da been listening they’d already know.

4. Doubts, angst, and uncertainty
Some people can’t stop asking questions. They think having questions is the height of spirituality. If they knew the answers, then they’d be accountable to change and behave better. Easier to be stuck in angsty, questioning doubts. It’s all about the journey, not the destination, don’t ya know. If I knew where I was going I’d have to take steps to get there. Too hard. I’ll just keep asking directions to nowhere I’ll get.

5. Segue into their spiel
These people want “equal time.” You just preached for 38 minutes, they heard your side, now they want to set you straight. But they open easy. They’ll pretend they have a concern, a true question, when in reality it’s just how they’ve chosen to open the conversation. They ask a question and you give a two sentence answer, and then they set into their four point outline they prepared while you were preaching instead of listening to your context for whatever statement they are now railing against. They especially like to do this when there are eight other people waiting to talk to you.

So, those are the five kinds of questioners. And, yes, as I said before, there are people in your church who will ask you good questions so they can think a subject through more intelligently. They exist, all three of them.

But the rest? They’re in one of these groups above.

How should you handle these questiony people? I recommend doing what Jesus did: flip their tables over and curse their trees. No, not yet.

Ask them a question in return. Figure out why they are asking. Throw them off a little bit. Get them to think, get them to consider the answer themselves; most people only listen to themselves anyway. This is a great tactic used by our Master, it would be good if we disciples of His wouldn’t take questions as flattery, but rather as an opportunity to reveal hearts.

Good luck out there. Fight the fight. Be ready always to give an answer, just don’t be shocked if your answer is not why they’re questioning.

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For more overly cynical takes on pastoral ministry, CLICK HERE to get a copy of the book I wrote, because it will show you why I’m overly cynical about pastoral ministry!

What People Mean when they tell their Pastor “Good Sermon”

I was told, “Good sermon” every single Sunday I preached. Even I know I didn’t have a good sermon every single Sunday of my 21-year pastoral career. So, what exactly do people mean when they say, “Good sermon?” There are several possibilities.

1. They actually thought it was a good sermon.

I mean, you know, it could happen. There’s an outside chance that you had a good sermon with good content and delivery that met someone right where they needed to be met. It’s possible. Unlikely, but possible. So, let’s be optimistic and assume they meant “Good sermon,” because it actually was a good sermon.

2. They don’t know what else to say.

In many churches the pastor stands between the audience and the exit. In order to get out of the room you have to say something. “Good sermon” is a nice way to deflect attention, hide behind the compliment while making the escape. A giant smoke screen while the wife and kids scoot by real quick.

3. Lies, it’s all lies.

Most people are nice, they don’t want to pick a fight with the pastor. It’s easier to say “good sermon” than in it is to mention a few fine points of doctrine they thought were off. Many people don’t like confrontation. It’s just a little white lie, doesn’t hurt anyone.

4. The one illustration they heard was good.

Most people aren’t listening to the sermon. They are staring at the ceiling or on their phone. They did, however, hear that one time when you told that story about the McRIb. They liked that. They have no idea what point was illustrated, but the McRib story was a nice diversion. Helped them pass the time.

5. Sarcasm.

It’s like when I hold up a plate with grease all over it after my son does the dishes, “Hey, nice job washing dishes, boy.” They hated the sermon. It was awful, you’re a heretic, they should have preached instead of you. It’s just sarcastic derision. Usually you can tell if it’s sarcasm, but the three page email you’ll get Tuesday will definitely confirm it.

I don’t like being cynical. “Love believes all things,” says Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. I struggle with that. I’d like to simply take a compliment, but I struggle, especially when it’s the same person every Sunday without fail. It seems insincere after a while.

The way I know it was a good sermon is when people implement biblical change into their life. That’s the ultimate and maybe only real compliment: changed lives. That’s too much to ask for and hard to see though, so you’re left with “good sermon.”

When people say “Good sermon,” I say, “Thank you” and let it go at that. Judgment Day will let me know how good my sermons were. If the Lord says to me, “Good sermons,” I will be ecstatic. Until then I’ll keep doubting the compliments, but hoping they’re true.

And, hey, good job reading this post.

How a Pastor’s Sunday Goes From Wonderful to Depressing

8:00am—I’m up, showered, dressed, got my last sermon prep done, praying, getting ready. Really excited to present what I’ve learned from the Bible this week. Great stuff. People will be grateful to hear this! Excited. So glad it’s Sunday! Let’s do this!

9:00am—leave for church.

9:15am—shoot the breeze with some faithful people who are there early to get things set up.

9:25am—becomes obvious not many people are showing up for Sunday School. This does not bode well. Anytime I’m excited to preach, no one shows up.

9:37am—Sunday School starts late because I’m giving a last shot for any late people to wander in. No one wanders in. Slight depression enters my heart. I press on and do my Sunday school Lesson I was excited to bring.

10:02am—someone challenges one of my points. They were kind of right. My answer was terrible. So stupid, I should have looked up those verses and read more carefully. How did I miss that? Bummer.

10:24am—Sunday School goes late because people were arguing about politics and completely missing the entire point of what I just got done teaching. I close in a brief prayer and wait for church. It’s ok, my sermon is awesome! I’ll turn this around.

10:29am—becoming painfully aware that only three more people are coming to church than were at Sunday School. It’s raining and windy. Lord knows they can’t come when it’s rainy and windy.

10:37am—waiting for any latecomers to show up, there has to be more people than this. There isn’t. My spirit lags. I try to ignore it. Crowds don’t mean everything. Just serve the ones who are here, amen.

10:51am—my sermon begins. A late comer walks in three minutes into the sermon completely throwing off my concentration causing me to lose my place and stumble around repeating myself for four minutes.

11:17am—all heads are looking at the floor. I can’t believe I’m making a great passage of Scripture boring. The pressure mounts. Must do better. If only I could remember what I’m talking about.

11:32am—I keep running around in circles trying to make sure I got all my points in and said well. Not feeling like that is happening. Keep talking. So many conclusion statements that don’t quite feel concluding enough. Oh well, whatever. End this disaster.

11:39am—two people argue minor points in my sermon. One person only mentions my funny illustration and seems unaware there was a point to it.

11:51am—I ask my wife on the way home if my sermon made sense. “Well, it wasn’t your best.” OK, I’m done. Depression fully takes over. My kids begin fighting in the backseat demonstrating once again that my sermon point was completely missed.

11:53am—I have now snapped and lost my patience with my kids.

12:07pm—there is no lunch meat. I have nothing to eat for lunch now. I go in my room, shut the door and sulk in my chair.

12:43pm—I have now remembered three points I never made in my sermon, the points I was searching for in my succession of conclusion statements. Also I finally have the perfect answer to the person who argued in Sunday School. I’m sure they will send me an email badgering me further.

2:32pm—email received. Feeling a little dizzy reading it. I write three responses, all of which are erased. I carefully craft a fourth response, which all but concedes the point and throws in the towel because at this point I don’t want to think about it anymore.

3:24pm—not only do I relive all the failed moments of this morning they remind me of all the failed times I’ve had lately. And let’s not forget all the ones I had the last 18 years.

4:05pm—my wife and kids are afraid to come near me after I snapped earlier. I’m a terrible father and husband. The stupid church makes me a terrible person.

5:27pm—supper was late and it had mixed vegetables with broccoli in it. Can this day get any worse?

6:32pm—Yes, the day can get worse. I have received four responses to my earlier capitulating email. They know I capitulated and have now lost all respect for me. So have I.

9:07pm—I had a terrible sermon and didn’t handle myself well at church. I’m an awful pastor. I suck at being a father and husband. I’m a worthless person. Complete depression sets in. I lay on the floor and dry sob into the carpet.

10:32pm—I indulge a few sins, because I’m even worse than the chief of sinners, and go to bed. Sunday’s coming.

The Cause of All Church Splits and the Solution to Our Disunity: From an Anonymous Moron on the Internet

I like reading Church History. It lets me know my church is just one in a long line of stupid churches.

Solomon tells us there is nothing new under the sun. Solomon is correct.

Churches have come and gone, and most have split first. Christians are disturbed by the Church Tradition of splitting churches. So much division, so much hostility, how can this be true of people who follow the Prince of Peace?

There are many reasons why this is the case. One is that the Prince of Peace said He came the first time, not to bring peace but a sword. As Paul said, “there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.” Division kind of has to happen. There are wolves pretending to be sheep, test the spirits for there are “many false prophets.”

At the core of most of the division is a tension that runs all the way thru Church History. Rather than explain it, I’ll show examples of the tension:

Reason vs. Emotion
Cold Knowledge vs. Warm Love
The Bible vs. The Spirit
The Institution of the Church vs. The Body of Christ Church
Expository Preaching vs. Singing

All these things are the same battle.

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4 Kinds of Questions Pastors Get Asked

As a pastor I am accustomed to being questioned. Every week I have people emailing and asking questions in person. I am specifically talking about questions related to the Bible and Christianity, not stuff like, “Did you see the game? or “Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?”

People often say, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.” People who say this have obviously never been a pastor. There are stupid questions; I’ve been asked most of them. But in the midst of the gloom of inane questions are the shining lights of brilliant questions. These are rare and cherished.

I can throw all these questions into the following categories. Most of these categories consist entirely of stupid questions, with one shining exception, which you will readily recognize when you see it.

1. Testing Questions
Many questions I’m asked are tests. The questioner has no interest at all in my answer. They want to corner me, challenge me, condemn me, mock me, or in some other way make me look ridiculous. These questions used to bother me quite a bit. Now I just answer them as succinctly as possible. “How many angels can stand on a pin head?” My answer: “7.” because seriously how are they going to verify this? These are insincere questions asked by people who want to lecture. These questions are the stupidest questions of all

2. Doubtful Questions
I don’t mind if people ask me about their doubts about the Bible, faith, or Christianity. I’m cool with people questioning such things. Unfortunately, what I’ve realized is that people who have doubts about the veracity of Christianity are usually people who just don’t want to commit to it. So, after I’ve answered their question about their doubt as reasonably as I can, they’ll nod their head and walk away. Six months later they’ll ask the same question. I’ll give the same answer. They nod and go away. Six months later they ask the same question, I give the same answer, they nod the same and walkaway. Six months later . . . on and on and on it goes. These people have doubts and they aren’t interested in the answers because they are enjoying their sin too much. This is stupid.

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Top 5 Things that Make This Pastor Sad

Pastoral ministry isn’t hard physically. Many aspects are actually totally enjoyable. One of my favorite things in the world is developing sermons and preaching them. Visiting people has become a good source of entertainment and fellowship. Hospital visits are even becoming more, well “enjoyable” isn’t the right word, manageable?!

Pastoral ministry is hard in other ways. It takes an emotional toll after a while. There are many sad aspects of the job that suck the life and energy out of me. Here are the leading causes of pastoral sadness.

1. Tragedies
Bad things happen to a lot of people. Watching the elderly woman take care of her husband slipping away with Alzheimer’s. Watching people slowly succumb to cancer. Parents who give birth to kids with health issues. Suicide. Accidents and injuries. Man, it’s tough walking with people through these things. It also seems like these things come in bunches. There have been times where these things just compound and I wonder where the energy comes from to deal with another one. I have learned to not take seasons free of these things for granted.

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Preaching Against Things Feels Good, but is it Good?

I like to put emotion in my preaching, not over the top, I’m not skipping and jumping and trying to stir up emotion. I just mean I want to have an emotional attachment to my subject.

Anytime I struggle to come up with another sermon idea (preaching three times a week for 20 years and not doing reruns causes this problem occasionally), my fallback is to talk about subjects I’m passionate about.

However, one thing I’ve noticed is that “passion” usually means “disgust.” I generally revert to preaching about things I despise, doctrines that are wrong, and frequently I call out theologians, churches, and denominations that promote such things.

Now, this is fun and will allow you to write a quick sermon. The audience eats it up too. There are laughs and nodding of heads. Everyone leaves feeling good about themselves and their church.

But is this good? Is it good for people to leave church feeling better about US than we do about THEM? Does this foster love?

The longer I’m a pastor the less appealing this approach becomes to me. I still fall into it from time to time, old habits die hard, but I’m making a concerted effort to eliminate bashing on others in my preaching.

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