An Emerging Young Preacher (EYP) faces unique challenges and opportunities in their development. In particular they face some identity temptations unique to the early years of preaching development.
Few things mess with your identity like preaching. A ministerial student who had never preached once asked me what it felt like to deliver a sermon. I answered, “Sometimes it feels like taking off all of your clothes and going on stage with only a Bible in hand for thirty minutes.”
I am still considered by some to be an emerging young preacher. Though I preached my first sermon nearly 20 years ago, I’m not yet 40. Many in my own church still think of me as the “young preacher.” I preached every week right out of school, and (learning mostly “what not to do”) and now I serve on a large church staff, preaching more sporadically, which is a situation most EYPs find themselves in. All this has helped me reflect on the unique situation we EYPs find ourselves in, and I’ve dialogued with many of my peers who are frustrated and tempted to get off track in their focus, and I have as well.
Preaching is disconcerting. We don’t know how much stock to put into the encouragement we receive, or the criticism, for that matter. Mr. Fallsmith in the back row says, “Good sermon, Pastor” every week regardless of what we said. We put a great deal of emotion and energy into the sermon, then it is delivered, and then everyone goes back to their lives like before and we may feel spent and used, as if we just stood on stage naked for a half hour and at the end people say, “That was nice” or worse, “You seemed nervous.” Thanks, everyone, I know you mean well but I think you missed the point.
IDENTITY TEMPTATIONS
In the first decade or two of our ministry we Emerging Young Preachers (EYP) are figuring out our identities as preachers—or we are not doing so and should be. Even those of us who have preached every week or preach regularly to large crowds sort out our identity over decades, not weeks. During this long season of self-assessment and self-alignment we face many temptations:
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- We are tempted to classify ourselves too early (as a preacher or non-preacher.) It’s tempting, after a few false starts, to say: “I’m not a preacher—I’m more about relationships.” Or, to say, “I’m a preacher most of all—I love to communicate.” When we say this anyone older and wiser just smiles and tells us to not make up our minds too soon.
- We are tempted to eliminate experimentation. After a few short term wins, like some sermon that seemed to click—we lock into that delivery style or prep system—and we lose out on one of the great advantages of being emerging young preachers: the grace given us to experiment.
- We are also tempted to put too much pressure on each preaching moment. We exhaust so much energy, emotional and otherwise, that we can come across as over-wrought and trying too hard. Our nervousness is actually causing this internal pressure, and unfortunately it can tempt us to call people to overly intense commitment at the end of messages. We must remember: this sermon is one of 52 they will hear this year. We are tempted to preach each shot like it’s the Super Bowl, when they are closer to the pre-season.
- We are tempted to miss the forest for the trees. Because we don’t usually preach as much as others, we are tempted to preach a sermon in a vacuum, and misunderstand how each Sunday or service fits into the whole. Mother’s day is different than Lent. The Sunday after Christmas is different than October. It may be that the teens have just come back from youth camp or a mission team to Haiti is being commissioned, and those church-season experiences should be a factor in our preparation.
- We are tempted to miss our preaching role in the local church. This is particularly true of we EYPs who are not preaching every week. We must consider how we dovetail with the senior pastor if we are on staff, and how our gifts match this particular church—what it can receive uniquely from us.
- We are tempted to impersonate. One of my mentors in my teens was a preacher who often had one key prop for each message. I loved it. So I once preached to a youth group in rural Indiana and every 2 minutes of my sermon I brought out another massive prop to make the point. I had a bunch of backpacking equipment in one corner. A huge “spare tire of prayer” in another. I had a big rope tied to my waist and about five other things. I was the “Carrot Top” of preaching—prop comedy at it’s worst, since they were laughing at me, not with me. We may find preachers to emulate and learn from, but we should never try to co-opt their style. This is what the old-timers mean when they say we need to find our own voice and “be yourselves.”
- We can be are tempted toward narcissism. Preaching itself is easily contorted into self-focus. In what other field would you say that every person connected with that professional, regardless of age or stage of life, should gather in one room once a week and not only listen to them talk for a long time but also commit their lives to following those instructions, with the possibility that not doing so will mean the Creator of the universe will be displeased? This is why a pulpit can become the greatest seat of manipulation on earth. While we need to be ourselves—we must understand that creating some super-ego inflation of our character for people to follow will be sinful along the way and unsustainable in the end.
What are the temptations you face? Ready to interact on this one. – Dave
I am tempted to get frustrated when I don’t see immediate
results. It’s partly my personality makeup, but I like to see people take the truth
and run with it. The problem is that often times we don’t get to see the impact,
at least right away, because it takes time. I see the preaching event like
sowing seeds. It may take a while, to see the fruit. J
Johnnie- you are so right. When we r young we are prone to this frustration at inaction. Perhaps as we age we are tempted to be cynical and expect it?
one of the pitfalls for EYP’s is getting stuck in their own head. I live in the mountains of Idaho and don’t get much interaction with other pastors. That’s why I listen to podcasts and steve deneff every week. I also have to study and re-write even good sermons that I’ve preached before. Comedians have a tendency to get stuck in their own heads as well. No matter how funny a guy may be eventually his best jokes get old. preparation and staying sharp is key. Many preachers are isolated in ministry without much “trained” criticism. Enough people pat them on the back and eventually they think they must be pretty good. Even though there are no IWU prof’s or other pastors in my crowd I always prepare as if Bud Bence or Wilbur were listening in.
Great thought about getting stuck in your head James! So true
What are the temptations you face? Ready to interact on this one. – Dave
Good article Dave. While it is closely related to you point about narcissism, I think all preachers need to avoid taking themselves too serious and “leaning upon their own understanding.” Do your study and prep work, but allow for the movement of the Spirit…because it’s not all about the preacher.
A great word, Tom. LeaninG on the self leaves us with little to lean on!
Great article! I too am a EYP (27 yrs and am in the 3rd year of a parachute launch.) I have done many “back stage” experiences with some other “successful” Churches. Most of them in their mid 30’s to 50’s. The pastors in their 30’s that I have discussed with seem to have the attitude “my way is the best, and all the other ways are wrong.” I have to admit, when you’ve seen success, it’s easy to fall into that trap. I was on a backstage experience once and the guy said, “Look, the way we do church, is not necessarily the only way.” I was encouraged, but pretty much the rest of the time he bashed on how other people were doing it. Without saying it, he made me feel like the ONLY way to do Church was to do it this way. I think “success” to a EYP can be dangerous if not dosed with a lot of humility! Just my thought!
Amen! Perhaps the temptation to turn our early successes into points of pride is an identity temptation we should all be on the look out for. Well put Jess
I’m especially tempted with narcissism. In many of my younger outings (I’m 26, been preaching since 16) I was praised and told how good I was (like you said in your intro, they’ll sometimes say anything regardless of the actual sermon). That sort of positive reinforcement can get a young pastor thinking “they” are doing such a great job and stop giving God the credit.
It’s also extremely easy to “miss our preaching role in the local church” (perhaps moreso in smaller churches) where there is not a lot of guidance or oversight given on the “fill-in” Sundays. A young pastor must be aware of the overall focus of the senior pastor and the church before slapping something together and giving the congregation a random, disconnected, one-off sermon.
Those two things contributed to my biggest struggle. Although this may fit in with one of your points, I find that many young preachers are in such a rush, or perhaps they just don’t care, so they don’t properly prepare. Maybe they think they’re so good that they don’t need to. Regardless of the many reasons, EYPs often short-change the preparation process and wing it or go to the opposite extreme and over-prepare so they give a dried-out, picked-apart sermon. I started out using the picked-apart method (and gave one of your “sermons-in-a-vacuum” with the kitchen sink thrown in). As I got those early rave reviews and continued getting them it turned into prepping for just a few hours Saturday night. The more I grew I, though, I realized that it has to be a happy medium. Just like a good steak, there’s a perfect moment to pull it off the grill and serve it. I don’t always get it right, but my preparation is now much better than it used to be. (And yes, I just called a sermon a good steak).
Great thoughts… And ive heard many sermons that tasted as good as a steak!
I definitely relate to the temptation of thinking each message is THE moment for everyone- as you said it, “making them all the Super Bowl.” It’s so easy for me to get the Sunday afternoon blues when the visible results of the message weren’t all I’d hoped for. God has recently been teaching me a lot about leaving the results of the message to him, especially as I often learn about what God is doing “behind the scenes” in people’s lives only weeks (or months!) later.
I also wonder at times about whether I can do more to “get better”- (wow! that sounded narcissistic, eh? I mean, I know that I can improve- and need to- just not always sure what or how other than trial and error). At 32, I’ve been preaching more than half my life now, (obviously with less frequency earlier on), so I’m guessing I’m guilty of some bad habits that’d be tough to unlearn!
Yep… The bad habits are very hard to unlearn! And I find I don’t even see them in myself without outside feedback!
I agree with finding one’s voice taking longer when we don’t get to preach every week. Once I started getting more slots and my church and others, I really found my voice. On that note of preaching occasionally, Dr. Frank Robinson told me that even great preachers don’t knock it out of the park or even get a triple every week. Most are singles and doubles, and sometimes they strike or foul out. While I took some comfort in that, I also felt that if I only preached a few times a year, thus having a month or more to prepare, that I should knock it out of the park every time. People like it when I preach at my church, but I had to caution them not to compare me to the senior pastor who goes at it nearly every week. It’s just not a fair comparison. He gets the experience, but I get the prep time.
Personally, I still love to experiment.
You are so right about the difference in prep time for an every week preacher and staff preachers like u and me. I’ve seen guys nail it 3x a year and then dry up 6 months into their first lead pastor gig
I think another temptation as an EYP is to feel like you have to bring something “new” from the text in every sermon. I believe this is especially tempting for recent university/seminary graduates who feel like they’ve “unlocked the Bible” with Greek and Hebrew knowledge–we can fall into the trap of thinking we can’t preach truth that someone may have already heard. Of course we want the Holy Spirit to interpret and apply Scripture in fresh ways as we study and preach, but it can become really exhausting to feel like we need a NEW revelation for every sermon. The Scriptures are incredibly deep, but sometimes people need to be reminded of simple Gospel truth! This has been a hard lesson to learn for this EYP (27 years old)
Great point. I definitely remember being right out of GCTS and thinking that I was finding new exegetical insights every message. Your additional temptation is right on!
Just a thought I’ll share that I share with my student teachers. YOU are the icing – the subject is the cake. Too often we make the presentation so big, the class gets sick and misses the point.
Nice metaphor
Love it! So true!
🙂