5 Preaching Sins

For those who have a high view of scripture and take seriously the call to preach and teach the Word, we are standing on a sure foundation.  However, there are still some of what I call “preacher sins” that are way too common and MUST be avoided:

1. LAZINESS

“Those of us who are preachers have an awesome and solemn responsibility to bring the Word of God to the people of God and to those who are not yet the people of God. We have to avoid laziness, cheap soundbites, pietistic truisms, living in the past and personal obsessions. Instead we must wrestle with what we and our people are experiencing and, without shying away from the hard things, we must bring the comfort and truth of the beauty of Christ to all.”

David Robertson

“All day long I do nothing but write letters… I preach at the monastery, I am a lector during mealtimes, I am asked daily to preach in the city church, I have to supervise the program of study… I lecture on Paul and I am still collecting material on the Psalms… See what a lazy man I am!”

Martin Luther

2. HYPOCRISY

“If a preacher is not first preaching to himself, better that he falls on the steps of the pulpit and breaks his neck than preaches that sermon.”

John Calvin

3. BORING OUR LISTENERS

“…to depart from the abstract and uncover the concrete in the difficult and sometimes treacherous realities of self, other, and world – is the most rigorous of homiletical tasks. The preacher must travel an intellectual ‘second mile’ to create illustrations that fulfill their potential. It is not a mark of intellectual capitulation to use illustrations. It may well be a sign of intellectual sloth and communication resignation not to use them.”     

Bryan Chapell

4. TEACHING WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT’S POWER

“Above all, feed the flame with intimate fellowship with Christ…I never met with a half-hearted preacher who was much in communion with the Lord Jesus.”

Charles Spurgeon

“A living Christ is the warrant for preaching; an ascended Christ is the inspiration for preaching; the gospel must be the matter for preaching; the Lord co-working is the power of preaching.”

Archibald Brown

5. NOT PROVIDING CLEAR NEXT STEPS

“Observation and interpretation without application is abortion!  Let the baby go full term!”

Howard Hendricks

Praying for you this weekend and looking forward to our conference together!

Eddie

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Eddie Cole

Executive Vice President of National Ministries at EFCA

Eddie is currently planting a church in Virginia with his wife Jessica. He was previously the Executive Vice President of National Ministries for the EFCA and before that the EFCA East District Superintendent. Regardless of role, with a desire to share the Gospel in word and deed, Eddie’s calling is to come alongside pastors and leaders helping them live well, lead well and multiply their ministries with vision and passion.

Latest posts by Eddie Cole (see all)

• 10 MORE Things I Would Change - July 15, 2019
• 10 Things I Would Change - April 23, 2019
• 3 Ways To Die Daily As A Leader - March 11, 2019