Every pastor has some known or even unknown philosophies that determine how he preaches and what he preaches about on the weekend. Here are 11 major statements that govern me as a preacher.
1. At the end of the day people should leave church more Jesus-obsessed and less self-obsessed. The church is not a self-help organization; it is a place where we realize we are screwed and need a Savior. Every message and every passage of Scripture always points to Jesus; and if we leave Jesus out and just talk about relationships or jobs or wisdom but leave out Christ we are not Christian; we are an atheist self-help club.
At the end of the day I am not trying to end addiction or fix marriages, or make people happy. I am trying to get people to love Jesus, worship Jesus and follow Jesus, because if they do these things they will kick their addictions, fix their marriages, and find real happiness. Everything is always, only about Jesus.
2. Speak the truth and shame the devil. There is nothing as pathetic and stupid as a preacher who sugar-coats the truth. He is a wimp, afraid of people, and he needs to stop the B.S. and tell people the truth. If people are going to come to your church, don't waste their time by beating around the bush. Tell them the TRUTH!
3. Preach grace. One of the best things someone has ever said to me was: This church is as easy to get into as a whore house in Bangkok! I loved it. That is what church is all about. Talk about sin and evil and our stupid mistakes, BUT always always always move to GRACE. Grace is GREATER than all our sin. We are all sinners who are freely given FAVOR from our great God. Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost. (Luke 19:10) Everyone is welcome, no one is perfect, anything is possible.
4. Speak their language. A pastor's job is to take a 2000-year-old book and not put on the level of religious people, but on the level of average people. Everyone and anyone listening should be able to follow you and understand-- from the 13-year-old boy or girl to the 25-year-old wasted kid in the back, to the 60-year-old, soon-to-retire executive. Our job is not to show off our knowledge and talk over people's heads; it is to open up the Bible and explain it to the common man and woman so they can love Jesus.
5. Preach as long as it takes to get people to hear you. There is no right length to a sermon. If you can say it in 20 minutes, do it. If it takes you an hour, take an hour. Take as long as you need for the Holy Spirit to break into their hearts and change their souls.
6. Preach from your heart, not from your head. If you have not spent time with Jesus and heard from Him, DON'T PREACH! Preaching is about communicating what God is already speaking to you about. Let God fill you up, and you will fill people up.
7. Preach like you are preaching the very words of God. I Peter 4:11 says that when you speak, you should speak as one who speaks the very words of God. You are communicating to people on behalf of all of heaven. So when you stand there, own it. God is talking through you. Speak with the authority of Christ, not with the words of man. Don't say, "Well, the Bible says this." NO! Say, "God says this or thinks this." YOU ARE GOD'S MOUTH PIECE ON EARTH. Talk with authority.
8. Don't worry if people get mad and leave. The only people that get mad and leave are those who say they are "too spiritual" for you (which is pride). Or they get offended at your directness, which is an indication that they have a sin issue they don't want to deal with.
If you preach about immorality, only the dudes banging their girlfriends get offended and want to leave or flip you off. (It's happened to me.) If you preach about money and tithing, the only one who is angry is the self-centered Christian who is stealing God's money and doesn't want to change or feel bad about their sin. So don't FEAR PEOPLE. FEAR JESUS!!
9. Think about the one lost person in the room before you speak. I usually have a name or a face I put in my head before every talk, and I write the talk like I was speaking to them directly about their issue. Remember in every crowd someone in the room is dealing with being raped, another without a job, another going through divorce, and still another who is an addict or has just been diagnosed with cancer. These are real people with real issues. Love them well and ask God to give you the words to speak into their lives.
10. Preach the Bible, not your own opinion. Opinions ARE CRAP! We follow Jesus, that is the only opinion that matters. If people would follow Jesus their lives would be so much better off so PREACH THE OPINIONS OF CHRIST! Give the people the WORD (Jesus--John 1) and the WORD will give them LIFE!
11. You have an audience of ONE. At the end of the day you don't stand up to tickle people's ears. You don't answer to people; you answer to Christ. Speak to please the ONE who is everything. If Jesus tells you to yell, YELL. If Jesus tell you to use strong language and slap them with the Bible DO IT! In the end, what Jesus thinks of your sermon is all that matters. IT IS ALWAYS, ONLY ABOUT JESUS!