Someone once said that the pastorate is one of the loneliest professions. I don’t know whether or not you resonate with that statement. It’s been my experience that there certainly are times when a pastor feels very much as if he or she has to slug it out alone.
As a result, we pastors tend to think that we must function alone—set apart from any other human assistance. This is no more true than it is when we sit down to prepare for our weekly sermons. In fact, many ministers would just as soon lock themselves in a room with the Holy Spirit and a few good references and hammer out their sermon with no input from any other human.
Over time, ministers begin to develop a sense of pride that they’ve gone it alone in their sermon-preparation process. They also may begin to believe that no lay person can ever really understand what it’s like to be a pastor. Both of these suppositions are fraught with potential problems—even with potential disaster.
Truthfully, we pastors do not “go it alone” when we prepare our sermons. We all rely on the Holy Spirit. We also rely on any number of books to give us background information, contextual help, even nuance of interpretation. In fact, many pastors delight in filling their personal libraries with as many books as they can squeeze onto the shelves.
Over more than 50 years of ministry, I’ve found that some of the best references I’ve had available came from the input I gathered from the members of my congregation. Or, when I worked in radio and television broadcasting, that I gathered from the members of my staff.
I talk about this idea of seeking help from the congregation in Podcast No. 200. If you would like to listen to my thoughts on this topic, please click the link on this page that will take you to my Sermon-Coach.com website and listen to this Podcast. I believe you will find my comments helpful and encouraging.
I confess that with lots of practice, I’ve become quite proficient with the Boom…Boom…Boom… of the drum I’ve been beating regarding my latest book. Because I’ve been told that repitition will provide encouragement for people to receive a message, once again I’m going to urge you to purchase and read this book.
I’ve entitled the book The Sermon Sucking Black Hole—Why You Can’t Remember on Monday What Your Minister Preached on Sunday. You may pre-order the book at Amazon.com by clicking here.
This book gives information about how to make your sermons memorable. And, it also gives some solid tips to the people sitting in the congregation to help them remember what you’ve said. I’m sure you agree that, as ministers, when we share what God has laid on our hearts, we do want the people we serve to remember what we say.
Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.
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