hypocrisy and its impact on preaching

It is so difficult to preach, with passion, something that you do not personally live. Why? (1) Because your conscience bears down on you in your preparation (if it hasn’t been seared by prolonged hypocrisy). You have to fight through feelings of condemnation and guilt and that saps you of your confidence. (2) Because you lack the experience necessary to not just inspire but to actually be helpful. It’s semi-easy to get up and inspire people to do something that you don’t do, because you’re inspiring yourself at the same time. It’s the difference though between someone inspiring you to climb Mt. Everest with vague, abstract words (“It’s beautiful. You should do it. There’s nothing like it in the world.”) and someone actually being helpful to you in knowing how to climb. Someone who has climbed it many times can tell you exactly how to pack for the weather, how it will feel when the low-altitude air hits your lungs, how you should adjust your breathing, the discouragement you’ll feel at 15,0000ft. Someone who hasn’t can only describe a picture of a place that they, at best, long to visit.

Ezra, the scribe, gives us the process for great preaching: "For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel" (Ezra 7:10).

Note: I should add that a preacher is always faced with the reality of preaching something that he/she doesn't live perfectly. But there's a difference between not applying something perfectly and not applying it at all. I'd also add that if you find yourself about to preach something that you haven't personally applied, confess it to God, take joy in the confidence that you're accepted by God because of the gospel, make serious plans to apply whatever you're preaching to your life and/or don't preach it yet.

Updates to this post

"No pastor lives up to what he preaches. If he does, he is preaching too low." John Piper

Why do you believe the church is still so divided racially?

I read a blog post by Pastor Ron Edmonson a little while ago in which he asked, "Why do you believe the church is still so divided racially?" You can read the original post here. I decided to post my response. This is an issue I'm extremely passionate about and my thoughts are a work in progress:

i see the problem at two different levels. one is practical and the other is theological. i put worship style, preaching style, homogeneous church leadership, etc as practical barriers. but i think those are only outworkings of deeper issues.

i'll address the institutional black church for example. in many ways, the black church has been a means of SURVIVAL for black people. one of it's primary functions from the beginning was to preserve African/Black culture and protect/advance the people within that culture. i think that's why you can have so many unbelievers who are still actively involved in the black church. and a lot of black churches still exist for that purpose. it's a core value for the black church--sometimes explicitly so--and i think folks just assume it's ok because that's the way it's been, like artie said.

in light of that, i think it goes beyond the practical factors. i think it comes down to a fundamentally flawed or nonexistent "theology of difference" - be it racial, social, or economic. for example, i don't think most christians can answer the question "biblically speaking, is it ok to embrace ethnic identity?" or "in God's created order, where did race even come from?" now, i don't expect the average person to have answers to that stuff. i didn't for a long time. but i'm hoping that pastors (including myself) will equip our congregations to process race through a biblical framework. because i think that what will filter down is an obvious disparity between how we act/react/feel and what we claim to believe. we have to allow the Bible to critique our presuppositions about race and identity and even our preferences. we have to be willing to admit our prejudices (or at least our ignorance) and allow the Bible to confront them.

i grew up in an all black church in an overwhelmingly predominantly black community. when i graduated from college i went to work for a pretty well-known evangelist in the "CCM-esque" christian world (i.e. white lol) and i got a crash course in all things steven curtis chapman. i remember being the only black guy on our staff in the first few cities i worked and having a really hard time being comfortable around older white people in particular (i think because of images in my head of old white supremacy dudes who were suited by day and hooded by night). i remember being at events where i was the only black guy (and youngest guy period) in a room full of wealthy, influential, older Christian white people and in conversations thinking "you're talking to me but you don't want me here or you wonder why i'm here." i remember being CERTAIN that me and the folks on our staff couldn't possibly have much in common. all of that was rooted in deep-seated skepticism. praise God, He changed me...and i'm glad i did because i wouldn't have lasted now in a predominately white church! lol

two last random thoughts:

1 - i think if we want to invite different kinds of people into our churches, we have to be willing to invite different kinds of people into our homes.

2 - the more exposure i've gotten beyond my preferences, the more my preferences have changed. i like acoustic guitars and romantic jesus songs now. :-)

An elder/pastor is called to "care for" the Church, not to simply manage it (Acts 20:28).