3 Essentials For Pastoral Preaching

By Rich Villodas on Jul 25, 2017

Missio Alliance
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I think Im starting to learn to preach not as a preacher but to preach as a pastor. Theres a world of
difference between the two.
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Tags: Scripture, Teaching, Preaching, Preaching The Word (view more) (Suggest Tag)

As of the time of the writing of this article, I have been a preacher of the gospel for 19 years.

Thats half my life, since I started at 19. Ive preached as a lead pastor for the past 4 years,
but a notable shift has taken place in me in the past year. This shift has also been
recognized by some in my congregation.

On a recent Sunday, after one of our worship services, someone noted that my preaching
had changed in some way (in his opinion for the better), but he couldnt put his finger on
it. After giving some thought to his comment, I sense I know what he was getting at.

I think Im starting to learn to preach not as a preacher but to preach as a pastor. Theres a
world of difference between the two.

The Journey Toward Shepherding

Over the course of the past year, I have been overwhelmed with the confusion and hostility
that has filled many of our churches.

The political noise, rapid cultural shifts and the general struggle that many endure has come
to the surface in a visceral way. As a pastor, Ive been asking myself a fundamental
question, namely, What does it mean to preach for the spiritual formation of the people I
lead?

Its a question Ive asked in one way or another over the years, but in the past year,
something qualitative has changed. The question has deepened me. The only way I can put
my finger on it is to say, I have shifted from being overly preoccupied with giving good
sermons, and have moved to being preoccupied with the livesthe struggles, questions,
fearsof those I lead.

Consequently, my heart as well as my delivery of sermons has adjusted to this new reality.

More than anything, the shift Ive undergone has been one of how I see myself. I have
moved (in my mind at least) from someone who gives engaging messages, to someone who
needs to be a spiritual parent to the people I lead. This is not small adjustment. As a younger
pastor in a multigenerational church, I have often thought I needed to be in my fifties to lead
this congregation as a spiritual father. More than ever, I see how I need to start parenting
right now.
As Ive reflected on this shift of preaching as a preacher to preaching as a pastor, Ive noted
at least 3 signs that a shift has taken place. Im not suggesting that preaching as a
preacher is fraught with emotional immaturity and self-centeredness, but noting this shift is
important to identify the inner workings of our lives as we proclaim Gods truth to those God
entrusts to us.

I. Dont be preoccupied with your performance but with

connecting the truth of scripture to the very real lives of people
This might sound obvious to many, but therein lies one of the insidious temptations of
preaching.

Its quite easy to approach preaching from the perspective of one performing, that is, being
overly focused on what we did right or wrong. This kind of approach makes the beginning
and end of a sermon about the individual improvements one needs to make for the sake of
delivering a better message the next time.

To preach as a pastor, however, is about connecting to those we lead on a heart level. In a

given week, people come in to church with addictions, shame, fears, doubts, confusion and
despair. Whats really important is not the perfect execution of the point, but the quality of
connection we endeavor to have during this speech-act. Preaching as a pastor is not to be
transactional or strategic time for content dumping. Rather, it is a time of encounter.

Now, anyone who knows me would not see this point as an opportunity to be mediocre in
our preparation. I see preaching as a beautiful craft that needs to be patiently and prudently
worked on. There is no room in the church for lazy preachers who fail to do the work of
study, life-integration and prayer. However, there comes a point when we spend too much
time on the content without truly taking the time to prepare for a live encounter with the
people we are offering Gods word to.

II. Dont look for validation from those you lead

I, just like anyone, deeply appreciate words of encouragement from those I preach to.

I love hearing about the ways God uses the words I speak, and the stories I tell to help
someone in their formation journey. But theres a line that Ive crossed.

Ive noticed how the words of encouragement (or lack thereof) have slowly lost their grip on
my life. Im learning to preach out of an identity rooted in the love of God. Ultimately, I know
Im preaching out of a projected sense of self when my sense of identity is built or torn down
by the validation or criticism of those I preach to.

As a father of two children, I dont walk around the house with a clipboard anxiously fielding
questions on how Im doing and why they dont appreciate my work as a father. Im to lead
my children, offering them validation, love and affirmation. In a similar way, as a preaching
pastor the focus is not to communicate to get something from the congregation, but to offer
something to them. Something of Gods love, grace, truth and care.

III. You preach from a place of pastoring

The life of a pastor must be deeply incarnational.
We speak, not just from good exegesis and individual prayer, but from a place of on the
ground presence with people. Ive spent time with preachers of small churches and mega
churches and have found in both contexts, that its easy to preach from our own isolated
bubbles.

Reading a few good books and giving clever illustrations will not provide the power our
preaching needs to make a difference in the lives of those in our communities. We must tend
to the presence of people, as we discern the presence of Christ. I like how David Fitch
captures this in his book, Faithful Presence. He writes,

As we sit around a table and share our lives with each other, expose our sufferings and our
joys, a moment comes that begs for the proclaiming of the gospel into our lives.

The proclaiming that Fitch is referring to in this quote is in the context of everyday life apart
from the gathered, worshipping community. But the principle remains. To preach as a pastor
is proclaim the gospel out of the very ordinary and quotidian spaces.

Our churches are desperately looking for mothers and fathers who will lead and shepherd
the flock of God through faithful preaching. Surely, we need more than a weekly sermon to
grow into Christlikeness, but without the intentional, slow, and steady work of preaching as a
pastor, our churches will not grow in depth and in strength.

As Paul wrote, Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many
fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

May God multiply the fathers and mothers who preach as pastors, not just as preachers.

Rich Villodas (website: Missio Alliance)

View all articles by Rich Villodas

Rich Villodas is the lead pastor of New Life Fellowship Church. New Life is a church
community with people from over 75 nations in the heart of Queens, NYC.