Here is a tip for the new pastors out there ready like race horses to preach “the whole counsel of God” to your people. Just because it’s in the Bible does not mean you should preach it on Sunday. I’m an idiot. God likes to call idiots to the pulpit ministry because we are usually the only ones who will listen to Him. But idiots can be slow to learn and slow to understand. In my zeal to preach His word I have made some rookie mistakes. Some of them involve my choices not necessarily in what to preach but how and when. You need to S.T.O.P. Here are four things to remember before preaching about ______ on Sunday morning.
- Select the service that best fits the topic.
- Can you expound during an evening or midweek service or perhaps even through email or online?
- Think Pixar.
- Can you describe what the text is saying using a metaphor? Pixar is awesome at this. Allow the people who “get it” to get it. It can just go over the heads of those who don’t get it and there is no need to explain it on Sunday morning.
- Observe who is listening?
- You might think, “yeah but people need to hear this!, This is God’s word!” Really? Do you want an angry mom coming up to you because her pastor just told her little children that “Santa is not real” or because on the way home your son asked “what are orgies”. Is that classy? No. Stay classy.
- Prisoners can’t leave and Sunday morning is a captive audience.
- This is related to number one. Warn people. Give them a choice. Let them come or stay home on the day you need to cover a certain portion of scripture or topic.
So there you go. Consider that some free advice. Do you have any funny stories about some time that you didn’t remember to S.T.O.P.?