Years ago, I had the opportunity to preach in several small churches in England. Being unfamiliar with many cultural differences, I learned something new from congregants after I preached. Many of them would say, “Thank you for the ministry.” Not, “thanks for preaching.” Thank you for the ministry. Now, to me, “ministry” embodies all that the shepherd is to do, from preaching, counseling, leading, prayer, to committee meetings. But for them, “ministry” was exemplified fully in the sermon.

Second Timothy 3:16 famously tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed— theopneustos —and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. Yet as I’ve observed the cultural Christianity landscape, I have witnessed the demise of a true belief in this theological bedrock of bibliology. This demise is led by preachers who often seem to trust anything except the theopneustos nature of the Bible. If the Bible is theopneustos¸ it is endowed with life from God. Deuteronomy 32:47 says of the Scripture that “it is not an idle word for you; indeed, it is your life.”

So, what does this mean for the paramount ministry of the church: the explanation and preaching of Scripture? For me as a preacher, this is a question I have considered deeply as it impacts how I study, formulate sermon structure, and deliver a message. In fact, the question was put to me succinctly by one listener recently: “What do you think about in preparing your sermons?”

So, to answer that question, here are some ways that the nature of Scripture as theopneustos commands the ministry of the word. I see value in writing about preaching to church members; Christians should know the standard and what they ought to expect from their shepherds. These are my convictions about “the ministry.”

Truly Believe 2 Timothy 3:16

If 2 Timothy 3:16 is true, that “all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,” then does one’s preaching actually reflect that? I believe that it is possible for the preacher to hold a theoretical belief in this truth of the Bible, but in practice avoid genuinely digging into the text and digging into the heart of his people with the text. The famous description of Scripture in Hebrews 4:12 as a sword which pierces soul and spirit and discerns thoughts and intentions reminds us that the Bible is meant to probe the heart deeply.

I believe that there is one overriding factor which leads a preacher down the slippery slope of softening the truth of Scripture: a motivation to please the people to whom He preaches. This must be avoided at all costs, which brings me to the next way theopneustos commands the ministry of the word:

Pleasing People Displeases God

If you did a survey of sermons in the book of Acts you would notice many common qualities. But one quality you would find noticeably absent is any sense of trying to please the listeners. On more than one occasion, a solid sermon got the preacher in hot water with the audience because the truth was so cutting. Can you imagine the spiritual disaster if Peter, instead of powerfully preaching, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36), had said, “Jesus knows how hard you try and doesn’t want to have spend eternity without you. Accept Jesus because Jesus accepts you.” No, Peter literally ended his sermon with a rebuke to the listeners, yet what was the result? The conviction of the word led to the repentance of 3,000 souls.

Trying to please people might create the appearance of church growth, since many sinners love having someone pander to them, causing the congregations of people-pleasing pastors grow sometimes exponentially. But what should the higher ethic be? To please God without regard to what people think. There is, however, an irony to preaching to please God:

Pleasing God Pleases Genuine Believers

While the faithful preacher is not to preach to please people, the paradox is that by preaching solely to please God, the genuine believer is actually pleased. They delight in the cutting work of Scripture, revel in the scraping of sinful barnacles off his ship, and are thrilled by the wonders revealed in an expository sermon. This may be a hard road to walk, as an example, for a pastor in a new congregation who has been primarily used to people-pleasing sermons. He may have to preach the church down to the genuine believers before there is a general consensus that God-pleasing preaching is the only pathway to a healthy church. In fact, every preacher should ask himself the question, “To whom do I want to preach?”

Preach to Whom I Want to Preach

That is an awkward turn of phrase, but says exactly what I intended. I want to preach to two groups: the hungry humble believer and the desperately needy unbeliever requiring the gospel. I personally have no interest in preaching to shallow professing believers who want to be parttime Christians and get a little truth like a splash of cream in their coffee. The important axiom to remember, however, is that the preacher eventually ends up preaching to whom he really wants, and this can have a wonderful or a disastrous long-term impact on the church. If the preacher continues to try to please the unserious professing believer, he will attract many more of them. But if the preacher aims at the humble serious believer and to the unbeliever who needs to hear the gospel, the church will begin to reflect that demographic as a whole, making the church stronger and healthier. In fact, I’d like to take this thought a step further:

Treat Congregants as High-Capacity Learners

Somewhere along the way, it seemed to become preaching dogma that the preacher ought to attempt to reduce the truth of Scripture to simple platitudes and digestible truths which could be pondered briefly with no effort by the listener. I am all for making truth understandable. However, I find the idea of treating my congregation like simpletons offensive. This may indicate an unknowing arrogance on the part of the preacher, that only he is truly capable of grasping the truths and glories of the Bible. But genuine believers want to be challenged, stretched, and grown in their understanding of God through Scripture. Cultural Christianity has birthed generations of professing Christians who cannot speak intelligently about the attributes of God without relying on platitudes or experiential personal stories. Instead, I long for those under my shepherding care to have the glories of God, the wonders of Christ, and the ministry of the Spirit overflowing in their minds and hearts such that they are bursting to explain Christ’s gospel to anyone who will listen! These are precious saints who pray the prayer of Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law.” I have looked up from the pulpit to see few people actually looking at me, but are immersed in taking note of the truths they are learning. Treating congregants as low-capacity learners creates a low-capacity church. Treating congregants as high-capacity learners creates a high-capacity church.

Plowing Deep Furrows Yields Deep Christians

Similar to the above point, I encourage preachers not to be afraid to take on difficult passages or topics. This will require effort, setting aside extra study days, and significant reading. The preacher who falls into the routine of quickly perusing a couple of commentaries and throwing together a reasonably good sermon week-to-week has contented himself with plowing a shallow furrow and throwing a few seeds into it hoping some of them will grow. But the fact is that the hard work of going above and beyond the norm, the labor of plowing deeply into the Scriptures with the congregation will over time yield tremendously capable, godly, and effective church members who evangelize, teach, and set an example of holiness to those around them. Church members should pray for and desire for their pastor to plow deeply and sow many seeds.

Rely on Truth as Sanctifying Power

Jesus made the principle perfectly clear, requesting of His Father, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). The faithful pastor has a heart to see his people formed into Christlikeness, and to display humble Christian character in their lives to the glory of God. But preaching only favorite or familiar passages and topics might betray a wavering confidence in the word of God. I believe—and have staked my entire ministry upon—that from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, every verse of Scripture has power for the follower of Christ to make him more like Christ.

Never Believe the Man is the Means of Change

We all enjoy an engaging preacher, and certainly boredom is not a requirement of a solid sermon. But many preachers have believed the lie that their appealing style and emotional petitions will be an agent of change in the lives of their hearers. In some church circles it is a common practice for the preacher to end every sermon on the verge of tears. Certainly, I know what it is to become emotional at the impact of truth in my own heart and of the desperation I sense to convert the lost and see the saved sanctified, but the preacher can never believe he is the cause of change. The preacher is the means to communicate biblical truth, which is the cause of change.

Trust in the Spirit’s Work

One of the greatest delights in preaching for me is knowing that the Holy Spirit is active and working even in the very moment of preaching itself. A sermon is not simply information to be digested later; it is a spiritual event happening in the moment and in the hearts of the listener. I never cease to be astounded at how the Holy Spirit uses one sermon to strike, encourage, convict, delight, change, and grow believers in different ways. For me, this is a high motivation when I study, that my job is to launch the truth, and the Spirit’s work is to make it strike its target.

For the preacher, these ways that theopneustos commands the ministry of the word should be the ethic which guides every sermon and the general preaching direction set for the church. For the church member, he should expect nothing less from his shepherds. Just think of it: God gave words, had them written by men under the divine leadership of the Holy Spirit, and placed these words in a book small enough to carry in one hand. Therefore, we bow low to God who has condescended to breathe truth to us.