A Short Checklist for Preachers

I heard a good preacher last Sunday. I know him well; he is a man of deep integrity who loves the Lord. I also trust his scholarship. He has been studying God's Word for a long time, and it shows in how he lives and teaches.

When he stood up to preach, there was an urgency in his message. He cared deeply about two things: God's Word and us, the congregation. He spoke with passion, even when saying hard truths. I, along with the other hearers, benefited from his sermon.

Listening to his sermon reminded me of a passage I read last week:

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. (Titus 2:7-8)

Paul tells us that preachers need to focus on two areas. We need both if we’re going to be effective preachers.

Our Lives

First, our lives should be models of good works. You can be a competent preacher and a great exegete of Scripture, but that’s not enough if you want to be a Christian preacher. You must show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works.

This doesn’t mean perfection, otherwise nobody would measure up. It does mean that our lives should match what we preach. Those who know us best should be able to say that we are who we appear to be in the pulpit. We should long for holy lives, ones without secrets. We should be growing in our love of God. If you’re a Christian preacher, your life is part of your message. You can’t be a good preacher if you’re not a godly preacher.

Our Message

Second, Paul says our teaching must show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that can't be condemned. Preaching should reflect who we are with seriousness and gravity. Even if people disagree or struggle with it, there should be a sense that they must deal with the truth we proclaim.

I’m struck by Paul’s use of the word dignity. In the original, it carries the sense of a serious life, of gravitas, and respectability. It doesn’t mean that you’re never funny. It does mean that, overall, you’re characterized by an earnest seriousness. You mean business. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said, “I confess freely, I cannot understand a jocular evangelist … Go back and read the lives of the men whom God has used in the mightiest manner, and you will invariably find that they were serious men, sober men, men with the fear of the Lord in them.”

To be an effective preacher means that we cultivate godly lives and a message that’s characterized by integrity, dignity, and sound speech. People should be able to tell as we preach that our lives line up with the message, and that we preach because we have something serious we need to say.

This Scripture serves as a good checklist for all preachers. Are we living as models of good works? Does our life match our preaching? Is our preaching urgent and filled with integrity and dignity?

I pray that these qualities increasingly show up in our lives and in our preaching.