Passionate Preaching
Pastor and author John Ortberg describes an interview he heard on the radio with a woman who ran the largest speaker bureau in the world. Her job was to identify and represent world-class communicators.
She was asked, “What is the #1 thing you look for in a speaker? What is it that makes a truly effective communicator? Intelligence? Articulation? Poise?”
Do you know what her answer was?
“Passion!”
It’s #1,” she said. “They may stammer or stutter or not have a great voice, but if they have that, no matter what else they lack, they’re going to get their message across. Conversely, if someone doesn’t have passion, no matter what content they may have, it’s not going to come across.”
Aristotle’s classic rhetorical principles highlight the three elements which must compose every persuasive message. They are:
Logos: the verbal content of the message including its craft and logic
Pathos: the emotive features of a message including the passion, fervor, and feeling that the speaker conveys
Ethos: the perceived character of the speaker including the concern expressed for the listeners’ welfare
Listeners automatically evaluate each of these features in a message as they determine whether or not to take it to heart:
Logos: “Is the truth clearly and logically proclaimed?”
Pathos: “Does the speaker act like it matters to him?”
Ethos: “Does the speaker live what he professes and love those to whom he’s speaking?”
Now Aristotle lived long before New Testament times. But he wasn't the only one who recognized the value of these three elements in communication. Notice what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 1:5…
“Our gospel came to you not simply with words (logos), but also with power and with deep conviction (pathos). You know how we lived (ethos) among you for your sake.”
Paul recognized that effective communication wasn’t simply a matter of presenting the Word, but in how it was presented. And among the keys to that presentation is passion.
Friends, this is huge! An enormous amount of preaching this weekend will not change lives because of a lack of passion or urgency in the preacher. On the other hand, a strangely fascinating power is exerted by those who are passionate.
An enormous amount of preaching this weekend will not change lives because of a lack of passion or urgency in the preacher.
Even unbelievers are attracted to it. Witness the case of David Hume. Some of you might recognize that name. David Hume was an 18th-century deistic philosopher who rejected historic Christianity.
A friend once met him hurrying along a London street and asked him where he was going. Hume replied that he was going to hear George Whitefield preach. “But surely,” his friend asked in astonishment, “you don’t believe what Whitefield preaches, do you?” “No, I don’t,” answered Hume, “but Whitefield does.”
The power of passion. Its indispensability cannot be denied.
To be sure, passion can be misused or manufactured. Pathos without logos (truth) and ethos (character) can actually be dangerous.
And passion looks different in different people! For some personalities, it’s high energy, for others, it’s a quiet intensity. However that passion is presented, one thing’s for sure, when it’s there…your audience can feel it and will be moved by it.
Passion exhibited in preaching will flow in similar ways that it does passion for other things: family, friends, sports teams, hobbies, etc. There will be an eagerness, an earnestness in your words and with your expression.
Staying Passionate
So how does one stay passionate in the pulpit? Put another way, what should you do if you find your passion waning? Here are some thoughts to consider:
Tap into your why. Ask yourself why this subject is so important to address and own that. If it doesn’t burn in you, it won’t burn in your listeners.
Picture your who. Picture individuals in your congregation who desperately need to hear what you have to say. Consider the challenges they’re facing and how your message can help them meet those challenges.
Discover God’s motives. Pray for the Lord to press upon you why this topic was so important as to merit a place in His Word. There was a message that the initial audience needed to hear. It’s no less important for your audience to hear.
Uncover your why not. Search your heart to see if there’s any reason why this isn’t resonating with you. Could it be that you’re not in any position to challenge your listeners because you aren’t living out this truth? For example, it’s tough to speak on relational integrity if you’re broken down with someone. It’s difficult to call them to pray if you’re not leading by example.
Assess your outflow. As the old adage puts it, “If you open the oven door too often, you can’t keep it hot.” Sometimes lack of passion is a function of over-preaching. Ask yourself if you’re speaking too much.
Consider your timing. Give some thought to not addressing the issue until you can do so with appropriate passion. Better to hold off than to preach it without pathos.
Effective preaching isn’t simply a function of presenting the Word, it’s also a function of how that Word is presented. And key to that presentation is passion.
Effective preaching isn’t simply a function of presenting the Word, it’s also a function of how that Word is presented. And key to that presentation is passion.
With regard to that, let the prophet Jeremiah be your model. “But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.’ (Jeremiah 20:9)
More blog posts on preaching:
Reflections on 40 Years of Preaching
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