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COLUMN
COLUMNIST
CALVIN SAMUEL
The power of
passionate preaching
W
hen I arrived on my first
summer placement of
ministerial training, 22 years
ago, my supervisor listened
to my practice sermon. He was
underwhelmed. Apparently I lacked
passion. So he sent me off to listen
to the sermons of Dr Martin Luther
King, as an exemplar of passionate
preaching that stirs the heart and the
head and helped to change the world.
Too many preachers lack passion;
too many leave their congregations
unmoved. But what exactly is
passionate preaching? Why does
passionate preaching matter? Most
importantly, how might preachers
preach more passionately?
What is passionate preaching?
It might be helpful to begin by
indicating that passionate preaching
is not a euphemism for preaching
loudly or being overly energetic. It
neither requires sweaty brows, nor
extemporary preaching. Passionate
preaching is the capacity to
communicate urgency, to convey
emotion, to challenge hearts.
Passionate preaching occurs when
we preach as though the subject of
the sermon actually matters.
Why does passionate
preaching matter?
Having described what passionate
preaching is we now address
ourselves to the second question:
Why does it matter?
Passion speaks to the preacher’s
prior commitments
The things that matter to us are
the things we are passionate about.
When preachers lack passion it
implies a lack of commitment to the
things about which they preach. If
we don’t appear to believe our own
preaching, why would anyone else?
Sermons without passion are
unpersuasive
Passion demands a response from hearers.
Passion also speaks to the urgency of
the issues themselves. Preachers are
passionate not primarily because the
issues are important to them, but rather
because the issues are important in
themselves. Martin Luther King didn’t
preach on issues that were important
only to those interested in civil rights,
for example. He argued that injustice
anywhere threatens justice everywhere.
The issues about which he spoke were
important, hence his passion.
3. Passionate preaching requires
quiet confidence
If you don’t have confidence that
what you are saying is worth hearing,
it’s hard to be passionate about it.
1. Be authentic
There’s nothing worse than insincerity in
preaching. If you are a preacher persuaded
of the importance of passionate preaching,
the worst thing to do is to drum up false
passion. If you speak loudly, beat on the
pulpit, or jump up and down in a vain
attempt to convince everybody that you are
passionate, you’ll turn your congregation
off and undermine their trust.
When Jesus taught the disciples on the
road to Emmaus they asked, ‘Were not
our hearts burning within us while he
talked with us on the road and opened
the Scriptures to us?’ (Luke 24:32)
I recently had to preach on a
challenging text. Preparation was
hard work and I didn’t think the
resulting sermon was my best work. So
preaching was also hard work. Indeed,
I was glad when it was over. Months
passed and I was asked to preach on
the same text. Before I started writing
my new sermon I re-read my old one. It
was far, far better than I remembered.
I made some small changes. However,
How might we preach with
the key change was that the sermon
more passion?
now spoke to me. I was therefore able
to preach that sermon with passion.
Having attempted to describe what
passionate preaching is and why it matters, The difference? Confidence. Passionate
preaching requires confidence.
we come to the key question: How might
preachers preach more passionately? Four 4. Passionate preaching is a byresponses come to mind.
product of the Spirit’s power
Passion must be authentic. Figure out
what you’re like when you get passionate
and ask yourself, ‘Am I like that when I’m
preaching?’
2. Passion is a product of preparation
If you’re not passionate as you prepare,
you won’t be passionate as you preach.
Preparation is not only about how long
you’ve worked on the text; it’s also about
how much you’ve wrestled on your knees,
and how far you’ve listened to the Spirit. If
we don’t meet with God as we prepare our
sermon, what makes us think anyone else
will meet with God as they listen to it?
Preachers who seek passion, who desire
that their own hearts are set ablaze,
who have the capacity to engage
deeply with congregations and to point
them to Jesus are able to do that not
primarily because of the depth of their
preaching skill but rather the quality
of their spiritual lives. Preaching that
is not empowered by the Spirit is mere
public speaking. Passionate preaching
usually requires preparation,
occasionally requires perspiration, but
always requires inspiration.
Rev Dr Calvin Samuel
Calvin Samuel is a Methodist minister, currently
serving as Academic Dean of St John’s College
and Director of Wesley Study Centre, Durham,
a Methodist theological college located within
Durham University.