Preaching gives pastors an incredible opportunity that most leaders do not have. At their best, sermons teach, inspire and provoke, which are three essentials for leadership and change. Whatever approach we use for sermon planning, preparation and delivery, preaching has the potential to form a congregation through the proclamation of a biblical vision for how we live and do ministry together as the people of God.
Retired United Methodist Bishop Will Willimon rightly asserts, âThere is no way to preach Godâs word without also leading the congregation in embodying the word, provoking movement from truth-hearing to truth-enacting in an actual congregation.â In other words, sermons lead by disrupting the status quo.Â
Some ministers and some congregants feel that preaching should be biblical and not political, as if such a thing is possible. When we erect a false dichotomy between the word of God and the day-to-day life of the church or avoid preaching sermons that disrupt peopleâs worldviews, we encourage the congregation to see the sermon as nothing more than a weekly motivational moment. When this happens, our members gladly listen to well-crafted sermons about the apostle Paul, and then they import values from corporate America to govern church business meetings.
What if your next sermon on love influenced the boardâs ideas about the amount of money to allocate for missions and outreach? What if a message on loving our neighbor challenged the church to wrestle with gun violence or a school board policy? What if preaching a series on community challenged members to be more open to innovative ideas for evangelism? Sermons lead the church to be more faithful to its mission. Sermons also lead church members to more fully live the gospel where they are. As preaching becomes an intentional leadership practice, pastors will help congregations see the role of Scripture and theology in the life of the church and their daily lives.
