Learning to preach from the overflow of your deeply satisfying relationship with the Savior
By Dallas Willard
Dallas Willard is a former professor in the School of Philosophy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and author of numerous books, including Renovation of the Heart (NavPress).
In my early days of ministry I spent huge amounts of
time absorbed in Scripture and great spiritual writers. The Lord made it
possible for me to spend whole days—without any issue of preparing for
something or taking an examination—soaking up the Scripture. I literally
wore out the books of great spiritual writers. This focus was
foundational to my spiritual journey, to finding satisfaction in Christ.
There is no substitute for simple satisfaction in the Word of God, in the presence of God. That affects all your actions.
Characteristics of dissatisfaction
Preachers who are not finding satisfaction in Christ are
likely to demonstrate that with overexertion and overpreparation for
speaking, and with no peace about what they do after they do it. If we
have not come to the place of resting in God, we will go back and think,
Oh, if I'd done this, or Oh, I didn't do that.
When you come to the place where you are drinking deeply
from God and trusting him to act with you, there is peace about what
you have communicated.
One of my great joys came when I got up from a chair to
walk to the podium and the Lord said to me, "Now remember, it's what I
do with the Word between your lips and their hearts that matters." That
is a tremendous lesson. If you do not trust God to do that, then he will
let you do what you're going to do, and it's not going to come to much.
But once you turn it loose and recognize we are always inadequate but
our inadequacy is not the issue, you are able to lay that burden down.
Then the satisfaction you have in Christ spills over into everything you
do.
The preacher who does not minister in that satisfaction
is on dangerous ground. Those who experience moral failure are those who
failed to live a deeply satisfied life in Christ, almost without
exception. I know my temptations come out of situations where I am
dissatisfied, not content. I am worried about something or not feeling
the sufficiency I know is there. If I have a strong temptation, it will
be out of my dissatisfaction.
The moral failures of ministers usually are over one of
three things: sex, money, or power. That always comes out of
dissatisfaction. Ministers are reaching for something, and they begin to
feel, I deserve something better. I sacrifice so much and get so little. And so I'll do this.
The surest guarantee against failure is to be so at peace and satisfied
with God that when wrongdoing presents itself it isn't even
interesting. That is how we stay out of temptation.
Characteristics of a satisfied soul
We are long on devices and programs. We have too many of
them, and they get in the way. What we really need are preachers who
can stand in simplicity and manifest and declare the richness of Christ
in life. There isn't anything on earth that begins to compete with that
for human benefit and human interest.
When people hear a preacher who is satisfied in this
way, they sense that much more is coming from him than what he is
saying. When I hear a preacher like this, I sense something flowing from
him. Preachers like that are at peace. They are not struggling to make
something happen.
That is one of the biggest issues for ministers today
because of the model of success that comes to us. We get this idea we
are supposed to make something happen, and so we need services to go
just right. The concluding benediction has hardly ceased before those in
charge are saying to one another,
"How did it go?"
or
"It went really well."
The truth is we don't know how it went. From God's point of view it
will be eternity before we know how it went. These folks are not at
peace if they are trying to manage outcomes in that way.
One mark of preachers who have attained deep
satisfaction is they are at peace and they love what they are doing.
Peace comes from them. From such preachers I sense something coming to
me that is deeper than the words. Hearers sense the message opening up
possibilities for them to live. In the presence of this kind of
preacher, people find ways of doing the good that is before their
hearts.
That is the living water. Jesus brought people that opening up of possibilities. In John 8, when he said to the woman caught in adultery, "Go and sin no more," I don't think she felt, I've got to do that. She experienced Jesus' words as That's really possible. I can do that. That is one characteristic of preaching that comes from a satisfied life.
Another mark of satisfied preachers is they can listen.
They can be silent in the presence of others because they are not always
trying to make something happen. Such a person has the capacity to
listen to people and come to an awareness of the needs that underlie the
felt needs. We should be attentive to the felt needs of people, but we
should know that the game is at a much deeper level of the soul.
A large part of what the pastor does in preaching and
life is to listen and help people feel their real needs, not just
superficial needs. The satisfied preacher speaks from a listening heart.
Since people often do not know what they really need, such preaching
can help them find out. This requires a spaciousness that only comes if
your cup is running over because you are well-cared for by God.
Steps toward finding satisfaction
We can take steps to find this deep satisfaction and to preach from the well within us.
I encourage pastors to have substantial times every week
when they do nothing but enjoy God. That may mean walking by a stream,
looking at a flower, listening to music, or watching your children or
grandchildren play without your constantly trying to control them.
Experience the fullness of God, think about the good things God has done
for you, and realize he has done well by you. If there is a problem
doing that, then work through the problem, because we cannot really
serve him if we do not genuinely love him.
Henri Nouwen said the main obstacle to love for God is
service for God. Service must come out of his strength and life flowing
through us into receptive lives. Take an hour, sit in a comfortable
place in silence, and do nothing but rest. If you go to sleep, that's
okay. We have to stop trying too hard. There may be a few pastors for
whom that is not the problem, but for most it is. We need to do that not
only for ourselves but to set an example for those we speak to.
There is a place for effort, but it never earns anything
and must never take the place of God with us. Our efforts are to make
room for him in our lives.
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