I’ve been teaching the Bible regularly and often since 2001, and I’m still surprising myself, sometimes in the worst ways. I went back to listen to a message on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, a story that everyone should find riveting. The first half or so seemed engaging, but about 60% of the way through, my tone and word choices communicated a major reduction of awe and wonder. This led me to reflect on this question: “What mistakes have I made, or have I seen others make, when teaching the Bible?” Here’s the non-exhaustive list.
1. Apologizing for lack of preparation.
This may feel like the humble approach, but to those you are teaching it might sound more like, “I didn’t consider this important enough and your needs significant enough to spend the necessary amount of time to be ready.” That may not have been the case at all — perhaps something happened that kept you from getting the normal prep time — but it’s usually not helpful to tell people. They might realize you’re lack of preparation anyway, or, even better, maybe the Lord will surprise you and help you in your weakness. (This is, of course, not an excuse to regularly fail to prepare adequately!)
2. Overusing illustrations to the point of obscuring or leaving behind the biblical text.
Multiple times a year, someone will mention to me an illustration I used from a message years ago. That’s understandable. Illustrations are effective if they shed light on the truth being presented. But there have been times when I could tell my illustration wasn’t making sense to my hearers, or it was so lengthy that it became more important than it should have been. Both missteps typically happen because of poor planning. I remember not too long ago telling a story about the gospel’s advance in southern Ethiopia. I had my audience all over Ethiopia meeting different characters in various situations in the dusty part of that country to the point that we left my text in the dust!
3. Speaking for too long.
I don’t ever remember thinking after one of my messages, “That sermon was too short.” Not once. But oh how often I’ve thought, “If I just would have cut out 10 minutes, that would have been much more memorable and helpful.” Charles Spurgeon has some wise and convicting counsel for this mistake:
Brevity is a virtue within the reach of all of us; do not let us lose the opportunity of gaining the credit which it brings. If you ask me how you may shorten your sermons, I should say, study them better. Spend more time in the study that you may need less in the pulpit. We are generally longest when we have least to say. [Lectures to My Students, 135]
4. Taking on another man’s mannerisms and/or voice.
I was once at a conference that was close to a church of a renowned Bible teacher. About half-way through the message, the speaker’s voice suddenly became strikingly similar to that famous pastor’s voice. It was both obvious and uncomfortable. I went to a Christian college with a chapel service every day, and I recall a man coming once who sounded just like Chuck Swindoll.
In some ways, we may not be able to keep from sounding like our mentors, especially if we have heard them teach frequently. But watch out for starting to sound like one of the well-known Bible teachers that you hear often. It’s probably worth listening to multiple men, including much lesser known but faithful pastors you know.
5. Looking at notes too much.
The debate about the use of notes for sermons — full manuscript? lengthy outline? brief outline? no notes? — is surprisingly heated. I have my opinions, but I’m not sure I want to offend anyone reading this! My point here is that when I have used notes, there have been times when I have found myself speaking to my notes and not my listeners. This is not only poor communication, but it might also be because of a lack of preparation. I can also testify that I am too attached to my notes sometimes because I’m not trusting God to help me.
I can recall attending two conferences over the years in which every man seemed to be looking at his notes while teaching far more than really addressing the audience. One of my friends at one of those gatherings got so frustrated toward the end of the conference that, privately, he said to me with some force something like, “I wish somebody would stop looking at their notes and just preach to us!” One of my favorite Bible teachers, Jim Orrick (who does not use notes), says this:
I sometimes sit through sermons that are unnecessarily dry because the speaker is reading when he ought to be preaching. Often the material he is reading is uncomplicated — maybe even an account of a personal experience. I am filled with sadness (on my good days), and I think to myself, Really? You need a manuscript to tell us how God has been sufficient for your family during your wife’s ordeal with cancer? Put down your paper, look us in the eye, and let your spirit rise. Speak with a tear trickling down your cheek and with a lump in your throat, and just see if we can sleep through that! [emphasis his, Kindle, Encountering God Through Expository Preaching, chapter 17]
6. Using unnecessary filler words.
I had multiple homiletics (preaching/teaching) classes in seminary. It was always somewhat strange to me speaking to a classroom full of “preacher boys” and a professor. Yet, it was helpful to evaluate each others’ messages and not only point out the good content or skills, but the bad. We needed to hear someone say, “You said ‘uh’ and ‘um’ at least 90 times in that 10 minute sermon.” Almost always the response would be, “I had no clue I was doing that!”
I still have the cassette tapes of several years worth of sermons from the first church I served as a pastor. Years removed from those messages, I decided to listen to a couple (after searching at length for a tape player!). First of all, my voice was higher! Wow! But also, in one of those sermons, it would be embarrassing to go back and count the number of times I said, “And so…” Once I heard the repetition, I couldn’t stop hearing it. It was excruciating. I’m guessing it would be wise for those of us who speak regularly to ask someone who listens to us most weeks if they are noticing this type of poor verbal pattern in our messages.
7. Sharing too much personal, even risqué or embarrassing, information.
Have you ever appeared more excited to share a personal story than Christ’s story, and just droned on and on about something in your life? That might not have been your intention, but it can happen. I speak from experience. I have also been in settings where the speaker went into “junior high locker room” mode in telling a story, getting some laughs, but discrediting the message. Is it really worth that? And if you are going to use one of your children or your wife in an illustration, don’t make them look bad. Sure, there might be exceptions to this, but only if you have the permission of the family member. Even then, what will you really gain? There’s probably a better way to make your point.
8. Overdoing (or underutilizing) physical mannerisms.
It’s painful, but sometimes enlightening, to watch videos of yourself. When watching myself, I have observed some mannerism flaws, such as too much, or too little, movement. Of course, I agree with Spurgeon when he says, “The sermon itself is the main thing: its matter, its aim, and the spirit in which it is brought before the people, the sacred anointing upon the preacher, and the divine power applying the truth to the hearer.” Yet, he continues, “Little oddities and absurdities of mode and gesture which wise men would endeavor not to notice are not overlooked by the general public; in fact, the majority of hearers fix their eyes mainly upon those very things, while those who come to scoff observe nothing else” (272).
It’s worth it, then, to ask those who listen to you, “Are there any mannerisms I fail at? Am I too physically animated? Do you notice me sticking my hands in my pockets? Do I look at people, or over their heads, or at the ground, when I speak? Do I seem relaxed or stiff? Is there anything you notice that I do physically that is distracting, or engaging?”
9. Communicating with the wrong tone.
Some guys are very boring communicators because they speak with a monotonous tone. That kind of person may have the best content, but he seems unenthused. Again, reflecting back to my homiletics classes in college and seminary, most of us start this way. It’s sad, though, when a guy who has been teaching and preaching for years is still so dull. I often wonder, “Didn’t anyone ever talk to him about this? Didn’t he listen to his wife? Didn’t he recognize the excessiveness of the yawns from his listeners?” Be proactive and ask others if you fall into this category, and don’t be offended if they say, “Yes.”
We can also communicate with an unloving tone. About my third or fourth year of ministry, I was frustrated with the church about something. So, in my Sunday morning message, after addressing the issue, I said something like, “And if anyone wants to talk about this with me and try to change my mind, be sure you come with an open Bible!” The exclamation mark at the end of that sentence fails to communicate just how unkind and cocky my tone was when I said that. It was not well received, and rightly so. Thankfully, the Lord gave me grace to apologize to the church the following Sunday. Not surprisingly, that was received very well!
10. Speaking too academically or at a level that fails to teach newer (or immature) believers.
I am more convinced than ever that if the 11 and 12 year-olds in the meeting have been able to understand most of what I have communicated, I have probably spoken effectively to everyone. There’s nothing wrong with getting an MDiv or DMin or PhD, but most people don’t care about that. I have never been asked about my academic credentials before or during or after a church meeting! People definitely don’t need you to prove your intellectual prowess. Here’s what people need: a man who loves the biblical text he is teaching so much that it has first affected him, and then it has burdened him to prayerfully communicate with fervor and accuracy and simplicity in such a way that his listeners hear from the Lord what the text means and how it applies to their lives and to the church. Speak the truth to their hearts!
And since the goal is not to impress people but to help them to understand, most would also benefit from multiple readings of the passage (or a portion if lengthy) you will teach. Jim Elliff writes, “Read the text two or three times aloud, asking the people to concentrate on what is being read. . . . You should not be ashamed to do this since Scripture is more important than what you say about it.” He fills this out a little more when he says, “Give them something to look for in the text as you read. . . . [H]ave them looking for answers even before you teach it” (“Reading Scripture Before Your Message,” located at www.ccwtoday.org).
Well Uh… On That
I had a baseball coach who would be giving us a pep talk, but then run out of things to say, and inevitably conclude, “Well uh, well uh, on that.” It was a bit of a flaw in his public speaking. I haven’t run out of things to say on the subject of this article, but I’m hopeful what has been communicated will help you in some way — even this week!
And so, um, uh, well uh, well uh, on that.