I’m well aware many of you who subscribe to this email are not preachers, and because of that I make sure to give communication principles any speaker, in any profession can apply. But because the overwhelming majority of subscribers are preachers, and so am I, a handful of times each year I want to stop and address communication issues specific to preaching. Today I want to answer a question I am often asked: Should a preacher’s study for the sermon also be considered their daily devotional reading, or would it be best to keep those two things separate?
I know of many extraordinary preachers who have an all-in-one philosophy, where what they are studying to preach is also their daily personal time with the Lord. The advantage of this is it really helps to metabolize the message, moving words from a screen into the bloodstream of the preacher’s soul, and that’s a good thing.
For me, I have to make the two separate for the following reasons:
Two different mindsets. When I’m preparing a sermon my default thinking is the audience: How will this land with them? What needs do they have? How can I say this in a way which will move them? But when I’m reading the bible for my own personal nourishment the mindset is on no one else but me. Now I know sermon preparation should hit our hearts first, and by God’s grace it does with me, but I have to really fight to get there. The way I’m wired it’s best to keep the two separate.
Two is better than one…for me. I was on a plane once when the captain told us to look out the left side of our window at the Grand Canyon. Of course the view from thirty-something-thousand feet in the air was breathtaking. And some of you have actually stood in the Grand Canyon, and that is also awe inspiring, but just in a different way. That’s how I think of my dual approach to the Scriptures. Every year I read through the bible, which is like flying over the Grand Canyon. This “aerial” perspective of the Scriptures gives me a sweeping view of the grandeur of God, and helps me to connect the dots with what He is up to in redemptive history. But my weekly study of the Word of God as I am immersed in a section of the Scriptures, knee deep in word studies, and exegesis, is like standing in a section of the Grand Canyon- equally inspiring but just from a different vantage point. I’ve been doing this dual approach for years, and it has truly enriched and deepened my walk with God.
Uncanny timing. There have been many times, as I have used this two pronged approach to engaging the Scriptures, where what I was reading in my devotions brought up wonderful biblical references and illustrations, that I just would not have “bumped” into had I not kept the two separate.
It goes without saying either approach is more than okay. I’d love to hear where you land on this question of should our personal devotions be our sermon prep. Give me a shout!
What I’m Reading:
Zeal Without Burnout, by Christopher Ash.
Be sure to check out my new book, Grace to Overcome: 31 Devotions on God’s Work through Black History.
