A little over a year ago, I heard my friend, Hiram Kemp, ask a question from the pulpit while preaching to many preachers. He asked, “Do you have a passion to preach or a desire to perform?” That’s a penetrating question that preachers need to ask themselves.
Since hearing that question, I tried to summarize what every preacher needs to possess. I’ll share that with you below.
- He Needs the Knowledge to be Truthful. The last thing a preacher should ever want to do is misrepresent God (Job 42:7; Psalm 116:10). Preachers need to be continual students of God’s word. If he is too busy to study, he is too busy.
- He Needs the Patience to be Kind. Preachers often deal with people who have messy lives, and their lives are messy because of their own poor choices. In spite of the messes they get themselves in, God still loves them, and so should we. They need more than a sermon; they need kindness (Ephesians 4:32; 2 Timothy 4:2).
- He Needs the Courage to be Bold. The problem in many pulpits today is not what the preacher is saying but what he is not saying. We need preachers who have the courage to tell the truth without fear of men (2 Timothy 4:2-3; Matthew 22:16).
- He Needs the Wisdom to be Balanced. Preachers have to guard against imbalance in their preaching. We all like to talk about some topics more than others. But we must have the wisdom to realize the importance of preaching the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27; Psalm 119:160).
- He Needs the Humility to be Simple. Preachers must jettison pride from their lives. Our sermons are not to impress people with our knowledge but to communicate God’s word. Preachers need to be humble enough to speak to be understood rather than to speak to impress people with their education (Habakkuk 2:2; 1 Corinthians 14:19).
The church needs good preachers. Not only is there a shortage of preachers, but there is an abundance of preachers who are not what the church needs. Are you thinking about preaching? Do you need to renew your zeal as a preacher? Embodying the above principles will be a great start.