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During my career in commercial publishing I was responsible for major biographies and autobiographies . This gave me access to some of the greatest leaders and communicators of our day , including politicians , sports personalities and royalty . I was required to understand their private world and try to make some sense of it .
In one example I visited Jonathan Aitken , a popular public speaker in recent decades . At the time , however , he was in Belmarsh Prison after being sensationally convicted of perjury in the biggest trial of its kind since Oscar Wilde . it was my job to ask him , as a former cabinet minister , why he had done it . His answer appeared later in his memoir , Pride and Perjury , and remains a fascinating account of human frailty and redemption .
Both in commerce and during more than a decade leading a sizable nonprofit charity , I ’ ve wrestled with the challenges of my own public profile . I ’ ve watched colleagues burn out or collapse under the weight of their moral failure . I ’ ve mentored younger ministers grappling with their preaching load and with themselves . I ’ ve also experienced the loneliness of leadership and the burden it can be on friends and family alike .
In recent years it has become fashionable to say that it ’ s irrelevant who we are on the inside , just as long as we do a good job in public . Faced with the prurient fascination for the private lives of leading celebrities , this backlash is understandable . Surely it ’ s none of our business what people do behind closed doors . As someone once said , ‘ authenticity is the most important thing these days – and if you can fake that then you ’ ve got it made ’. What does it matter if we ’ re faking it , just as long as our audience doesn ’ t notice ?
However , a clutch of global politicians , and even some well-known faces of the church today , suggest that when it comes to those who preach , this approach is not a good idea . We have paid a very high price for ignoring the
IN RECENT YEARS IT HAS BECOME FASHIONABLE TO SAY THAT IT ’ S IRRELEVANT WHO WE ARE ON THE INSIDE , JUST AS LONG AS WE DO A GOOD JOB IN PUBLIC .
simple and straightforward teaching of both Jesus and Paul on this matter . ‘ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit , and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit ’, taught Jesus in his famous Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew 7:18 ). Later he made much the same point when he said , ‘ First clean the inside of the cup and dish , and then the outside also will be clean ’ ( Matthew 23:26 ).
Paul put so much stress on this that he admitted to being in agony as great as childbirth that ‘ Christ is formed in you ’ ( Galatians 4:19 ). As many leaders will testify , eventually who we are on the inside will come out . Or as the quaint old saying puts it well , ‘ eventually your petticoat will show ’. As a result of this , a number of leading business schools now offer psychometric tests and highend courses on what is known as ‘ the dark side ’ of leadership . Essentially they are asking ‘ who are you when no one is watching ?’ If the definition of ‘ spiritual ’ is everything that ’ s not physical , then the interior journey of the public speaker is a deeply spiritual affair . It takes us to the heart of what it is to be human with all our dark side and frailties . If we are to be successful at preaching then it will require a deeply reflective life and lifestyle .
I first realised this as a young speaker amongst students . I found that my faith was increasingly unable to carry the weight of the responsibilities that I now had . What seemed so simple and satisfying when I was a student myself was now no longer sufficient for the harsh reality of preaching and leading worship on a regular basis . I felt increasingly lost and eventually decided that it might be better for everyone if I quit the church altogether . Then , in the summer of 1997 , I bumped into Dallas Willard , who had just published The Divine
Conspiracy , which has probably become the most influential book on my life after the Bible . The Divine
Conspiracy has taught me many things about the inner life of the public person . One of them is a set of four irreducible practices for a sustainable authentic lifestyle – worship and study , silence and solitude .
My observations and mentoring have confirmed to me that the classic spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude are essential for a reflective and effective preacher .
‘ Spend more time leaning back in your chair and looking out of the window ’ is the counterintuitive advice I often give the upwardly mobile and hard-driven pastor . The deliberate habit of slowing down can be both the hardest , and yet most rewarding , part of the preacher ’ s routine .
Sometimes I suggest to church leaders that the most courageous and heroic act that they can do is to switch off their laptop and iPhone and go to bed . Why ? Because in doing so we are consciously trusting God for the outcome of our ministry . Try it yourself and learn what it feels like to quit running the universe for a while . It ’ s all part of the inner life of the public preacher .
James Catford
James Catford is a former UCCF staff worker , publishing director at Hodder Headline and HarperCollins , and group chief executive of Bible Society . He is chair of Renovaré , deputy chair of Amity Printing Company in Nanjing , and serves on the board of SPCK , Renovaré US and African Enterprise . He is a currently a mentor , coach and consultant .