There is so much trust vested in the pulpit; sacred trust for a sacred duty. It is a place of authority, and though it is only a derived authority, it can still be abused. The temptations that assault preachers are many and varied. Sadly, many fall prey to them, and disgrace the office of preacher and the task of preaching. The bully pulpit is exactly what it sounds like, a preacher weaponizing his preaching to force his congregation into serving his personal designs. The bully in the pulpit usurps God’s authority and His Holy Word to say what he wants to say. It is a blasphemous act which totally misrepresents God to His own people and to outsiders. A bully preacher can humility, shame, and guilt souls into submission. He can tarnish and even destroy reputations. He can undermine relationships and cut off souls from their communities of support. From the pulpit, an evil man, or even a man who is simply angry can traumatize the people in the pews. The bully pulpit is spiritual abuse and should never be tolerated.
Failures in the Pulpit
When only one man is expected to stand in the pulpit the potential for weaponizing the platform is very real. There is no chance for anyone to stand in that place of authority and clarify God’s Word against the self-serving claims of a man gripped with some unchecked sin. Having other men who regularly fill the pulpit keeps anyone from thinking that the bully is somehow greater than others. Sharing the pulpit is a safeguard against bullying that must not be neglected. Where the pulpit is forced upon one man continually without rest, bullying of some kind ought to be expected for that man has been bullied himself and bullying tends to beget bullying.
See James 1:19-21: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”
The preacher must be very wary of anger, and even the appearance of anger in the pulpit. He can easily bring his own frustrations into the pulpit and mask them with a thin veil of righteousness. If the preaching sounds angry it must be demonstrated that this is indeed the proper tone for the passage, and it must always be recognized beyond any doubt that God’s wraith is satisfied in Christ for those who believe. If the wraith of God is rightly brought into the sermon, it can only be to drive into the open the embrace of God’s surpassing grace.
This writer confesses it is a difficult thing to grasp. An angry man, whatever he is angry about, however justifiable, his anger it might seem should never be in the pulpit unsupervised. It is too much temptation to let loose and lash out, and this is abuse that misrepresents God and mistreats His people. The man who is regularly angry will not be able to distinguish between his anger and God’s righteous anger.
Therefore, we say from our own difficult experience it is better to keep away from the pulpit till anger has been uprooted. Preach occasionally, and under the watchful eye of an experienced shepherd, and others who can keep you accountable till God has fitted you for more extensive ministry by removing the anger from your heart.
The pulpit is a very exposed position to be in. You are an easy target up there in front of everyone speaking with an authority not your own. The fear of man can utterly undo a preacher, causing him to cater to the whims of bullies in the pews rather than faithfully proclaiming the full counsel of Scripture.
Pastors have fears like anyone else and perceive threats like anyone else does. And sometimes their fears are founded. Threats of lost income, social isolation, harm to family, and even physical threats are leveled against those who boldly, yet gently preach the whole truth. It is very hard for pastors to stand up to such abuses, especially when they persist over an extended period of time. Indeed, one of the threats a pastor must face is being called a bully for standing firm against true bullies.
It does not matter how severely a pastor is abused, he must never let anger creep in. The only truly innocent man ever suffered worse and did not cry-out. Let the Lord’s perfect example motivate us never to repay evil for evil. We must understand that even though there is a Biblical defense for righteous anger, our selfish reasons for anger can corrupt it and turn it into evil. If the situation ahs gotten so bad that we cannot keep our hearts focused on God and doing His will, we need to leave.
The writer testifies from experience that no possible gain is worth losing one’s heart.
The love of money is the root of all kinds of terrible practices in the pulpit. From straight-up fleecing the flock, to subtle pandering when the pastor is out to make more money, nothing good is going to happen. And it is difficult to keep that desire out of the heart of a man who is trying to support a family on a salary that is seldom sufficient.
Breaching confidentiality is another real and present danger in the pulpit with the poor exposed souls most often being a member of the preacher’s own family. Whatever benefit the congregation might receive from a story, it is never worth the embarrassment it causes a soul. Sometimes in the heat of the moment, we forget the needs of the one or the few as we are caught up with the needs of the many. It is something we must take care to avoid.
There are a lot of ways a preacher tries too hard: chasing tangential points, lingering on and on in his conclusion, and belaboring some poor dead-horse of a point into dust. When we understand that eternal souls hang somewhere in the balance it can be hard to know when to let go. The preacher wants to do all he can, but sometimes the best thing he can do is move on. Repetition to a point is helpful, but when it is overdone, the point is lost and only the annoyance is recalled.
The answer to all of these pitfalls of preaching is to trust God. Things aren’t going the way you think they should? Do not become a bully, trust God to get everyone where they need to go. Afraid? Trust God to protect. Under attack? Trust God to deliver you. Not sure how you will provide? Trust in God’s provision. Feeling the need to add something questionable to the sermon? Trust that God can get the point across without potentially harming anyone. To trust God, we have to know Him, and to know Him we have to be with Him each day. One of the great failures in the pulpit is neglecting personal devotion.
The very worst thing that can happen to a preacher is that he comes to believe he is good at preaching. If anyone gets good at it, they will inevitably try to do it in their own power. It doesn’t matter how much power they have, or what kind it is; it will never be enough to accomplish the goal. Preachers have to be totally reliant on God. They should walk towards the pulpit praying that God will go before them, and be with them, and stand behind them to catch them when they fall. They should always know their own great need for divine help.
The second worst thing that can happen to a preacher is that he starts taking criticism of the sermon personally. Preaching will be criticized. Most of that criticism will be insipid. Some of it will be very wise. Some of it will hurt you. Some of it will be calculated to hurt you. If a preacher isn’t careful, one stinging word of critique will echo for years in his mind and heart, causing him endless troubles.
Listen to your critiques, consider what they said, get feedback from trustworthy brothers and sisters, and pray over all of it. If after all that you find there is something true in the critique, then correct it and move on. If you find there is nothing that needs correcting, leave it behind you. Whatever the case, remember you are not your sermon, your preaching is only a part of what you do, and the critique is only of that part and not the whole.
Remember also you have only one judge to please and He is very gracious, merciful, kind, and He loves you more than words can say. If He reproves you it is only a sign of that great love He has for you. See Hebrews 12:6: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”
There is a great temptation to despair when preaching falls again and again on def ears. As a preacher, one is only responsible for delivering the sermon. He dreams of an awakening for his people, of true revival, and of mass conversions. He prays and waits, and does his very best, but it never happens. Perhaps some nights he weeps before God pleading for the miracle that delivers the chosen people into the land of promise. Then he watches as they are scared off again by the giants in the land. He circles in a wilderness waiting, and then he dies. His flock places the body in a pine box and buries it in a simple grave.
You wonder why so many preachers write resignation letters on Monday morning?
Ah, but this is not a reason to despair dear friend. For you see the long-suffering preacher went into the presence of his Lord. The Good Shepherd who had called Him into service had watched all his work, heard all of his prayers, and knew all of his heart,
See Matthew 25:21: “His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
Beloved, we dream so much of great and wonderful things, and if we desire them for the glory of God and the good of our neighbors it is right that we have such dreams. Nevertheless, we are not called to accomplishment of great deeds, but to faithful service. It is for God to decide when revival comes, and when it tarries. We think of the great sermons being those that had great responses, but there is so much we do not see or understand.
Truly, the greatest preacher among us might well labor in total obscurity, but God knows. The congregation that enjoys such superb exposition may not appreciate it at all, but God appreciates it. The man may never receive a single cent for all his hard work each week, but God will not fail to pay His servants. Oh, is that not all any of us could want?
Let us all in whatever we do keep our eyes firmly fixed on God alone, and seek only His approval in all we do. If He should answer our prayers for mass revival, if He should anoint the preaching with supernatural power, such has not been seen here since Whitefield and Edwards, all glory be to God alone. If He shut up the windows of Heaven and withheld the anointing, all glory be to God alone. Whatever comes we serve for His good pleasure.
Let us not neglect the words of Milton in all of this: “He also serves who only stands and waits.” Some of our beloved and esteemed brothers are waiting to take the pulpit, studying and practicing for the day God calls them to the front. Some of our beloved and esteemed brothers are recovering from the wounds of battle, restoring their strength so they can return to the good fight. Some of our believed and esteemed brothers are seeking for direction, awaiting new orders from their Commander.
To all of these, we say you have not left the service, you are not wasting your time, and you have not been forgotten.
There are many other struggles we speak of. There are many struggles that are deeply personal and known only to the man who faces them. It is not good for the preacher to be alone. We have said it already, but it warrants repeating: our pastors need our support as much as we need theirs.
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