As a teacher of preaching, I think a lot about the task of training preachers. What are the non-negotiable aspects of a sermon? Are illustrations nice but not necessary? Is personal or corporate application absolutely required? How do we preach the gospel from any and every passage? Then there is the question of sermon delivery: is a preacher’s style of delivery inseparable from his character or temperament, or can we push someone to step a little outside himself to be a more effective messenger?
Even a single sermon requires so many elements to be held together in a sometimes delicate balance. You are balancing indicatives and imperatives, poetry and precision, exposition and exhortation—to say nothing of delivering a sermon in a way that is intentional yet still comes across as natural.
The conundrums around training preachers are many. This reality led John Broadus to say in A Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, his classic work on homiletics: “It is a solemn thing to preach the gospel, and therefore it is a very solemn thing to attempt instruction or even suggestion as to the means of preaching well.” What sinful and broken man dares tell another how to be an ambassador for the pre-eminent Christ? Yet we must.
Training Preachers
It is a solemn task—teaching preaching—and for centuries this training has been part of a formal theological education. Students will receive lectures in homiletics, just as they will receive lectures in dogmatics, church history, Old Testament history, and Greek grammar. Yet historically, instruction in preaching has always been a hands-on endeavour.
We see indications of this already in the early church. In those first centuries, the church favoured an apprenticeship model for developing new preachers. Augustine, for instance, urged that preachers learn from other preachers, coming under the tutelage of an experienced man to learn how to preach.
Directly relevant for preacher training are the first and second letters of Paul to Timothy. Young Timothy had been entrusted with the difficult task of leading a congregation that was afflicted with a number of problems, not least of which was a critical attitude towards their pastor. So Paul has been discipling Timothy, teaching the attitudes and activities that are essential for Christian ministry.
Let Everyone See Your Progress
Paul says something significant in 1 Timothy 4:15, “Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” The apostle has just reminded Timothy of the heavenly gift which has qualified him for ministry. Now Paul urges Timothy to be diligent in his ministry so that he may progress.
For any teacher, the question of student progress is paramount. For the Grade 1 teacher, what does it mean for a student to progress in her reading? No less for the homiletics professor: What does it mean for a student to progress in his preaching? And how can that progress be achieved?
When Paul says, “so that all may see your progress,” what kind of progress does he mean? One essential aspect of desired growth was in Timothy’s Christian faith and character. Paul had just exhorted, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12).
Timothy is to grow in virtue, a spiritual progress that will be visible. He will show himself to others as a model of holy conduct, a servant of Christ, a man of God who pursues “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness” (1 Tim. 6:11). This is the kind of progress in sanctification that everyone should be able to see in the young minister.
Besides developing in godliness, a second growth area for Timothy is in the competencies of ministry. “Until I come,” the apostle has also just said, “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Tim. 4:13). The pastor must learn to read the Scriptures clearly, to explain them faithfully, and to bring their exhortations boldly.
In short, a young preacher must pursue growth in both character and competence. Maybe Timothy’s obvious progress in the faith and in ministry will shut the mouths of his critics. But more importantly, such growth will bless his congregation and glorify God.
Character and Competence
For a pastor today, progress ought to comprise the same two aspects: character and competence. Regarding character, a preacher ought to be growing in righteousness, increasing in love for other people, becoming more steadfast in trials, and nurturing a spirit of trust in God.
This progress in godliness is inseparably connected to progress in preaching. It is when a preacher sees more plainly the implications of the gospel for his own life as a redeemed sinner that he will preach the gospel more urgently, attractively, and probably also more clearly. When a preacher is himself walking closely with Christ, he will be prepared to teach others to do the same.
For progress in competence and in character, we depend on the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Yet there remains a responsibility for which every preacher must answer: “Immerse yourselves in these things,” says Paul. In other words, there’s an assignment here for the preacher, work that remains to be done. It takes effort to grow in the discipline of preaching: to get better at teaching sound doctrine, to grow in our use of language, to become more relatable in application, and to be more attentive to preaching Christ. By God’s grace, and with hard work, we will progress.
And so preachers should. God has given preaching an integral place. Faithful preaching will build up the congregation. Strong preaching will attract some of those who are still strangers to Christ, or who are searching for a more faithful church.
So it is right for preachers to keep reflecting, for as long as God gives the strength and opportunity to proclaim his gospel: How can I progress in the pulpit?
