I used to design websites for churches as kind of a hobby and side gig. I had to retire, but when I was active in the craft, I can well remember my biggest motivation. I would preach on Sunday to people who would listen and affirm my words with their thanks. But I couldn’t control them. I couldn’t make people make right decisions.
With website design, I could type out some code and make a website look a certain way. I was in control.
Preaching carries with it this burden of having no real control over the outcome of a sermon. We definitely get to control the input—praying, reading, studying, writing, rehearsing and praying some more—but we can’t ultimately make decisions for people, as much as we’d like to do so.
As preachers, we have to come to peace with this, and if we don’t, we wind up manipulating people. We begin to assume that our eloquence or choice of words or our display of emotion will be enough to motivate people to repent and turn to God.
3 Things You’ll Never Be Able To Do as a Preacher
1. You’ll never convict people of sin.
We try sometimes, don’t we? A fellow pastor once shared with me that he determined to preach on sin every week until the house was clean. Eventually, the house was empty, and he blamed it on their unwillingness to get things right.
The problem is, when we try to bring people to a place of conviction on our own, we pile on the guilt and shame, driving people further into their sense of hopelessness.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t preach on sin. I’m simply saying that we overstep our role when we attempt to bend the human heart to our wills.
