Why Josh Doesn't Preach Every Sunday
Introduction
If you’ve been a member or visitor of Christian Life Church since August 2015, you’ve been part of some significant changes to our congregation’s life. Our pastor changed colors, our worship gathering went from two to one, our meeting space went from a sanctuary, to a fellowship hall, to the First Baptist Church, to a brand new building, and on and on.
But another change you might have noticed is that I don’t preach every Sunday.
In 2015 I preached 51 of 52.
In 2016 I preached 49 of 52.
In 2017 I preached 47 of 52.
By 2021 I preached 43 of 52 and,
Lord willing, I’ll preach 37 of 52 in 2024.
So what gives? Why am I, as the lead pastor of the church, in the pulpit on Sunday less and less with each passing year? Let me give you four reasons, from least important to most.
1) It Prevents Burnout
Getting to teach and preach week in and week out has been and is one of the greatest joys of my life. Often, over the last 12 years in the middle of study for a sermon or class, I’ll tell the Lord, “Thank you, I can’t believe this is my job.” The weeks I’m not preaching and I’m listening to the sermon, I want to jump out of my seat and grab the mic, not because I think I can preach it better, but because I just love to preach.
However, due to (good) preaching being a highly spiritual and emotional process (study, prayer, and considering how the text preached can impact the members who will hear it, and actually communicating the word of God in a way that’s clear and helpful), taking regular breaks keeps the preacher fresh. Athletes that are effective for a long time aren’t training full speed every single week; they take regular breaks to let the muscles recover and heal so that when the ball is tipped, they’re at their best.
2) Different Voices Are Helpful
Every parent, coach, or teacher has experienced this. You may say something over and over and over, but until another voice says it, your hearers won’t “hear” it.
In high school, almost every day, Coach Deckman said that defense was really important. But it took an NOC player visiting our practice before I believed it. Or, in a church example, we had a guest speaker teach on Jesus returning to the earth to restore all things.
After the service, one of our members told me they’d never heard teaching on that before:)
I rejoiced at this comment because they didn’t “hear” it from me, they did “hear” it from another voice.
Further, having a variety of voices provides more perspective and wisdom with the body. I have life experiences and perspectives on scripture that are different from the other elders. Their voices on certain texts and topics are likely going to be better taught, better heard, and better obeyed, by the body than from what I might have to offer.
For example, Joe can speak with more authority on suffering, Max can share with more experience on radical generousity, Darrell can better exhort us to evangelism, and Keith brings decades of study and life into the pulpit.
Other voices are beneficial for all.
3) It’s My Job to Equip Elders
More important than those first two reasons, a primary reason I have intentionally shared the pulpit over the last 9 years is because it’s my job. When Paul is giving instruction to Timothy in how to minister, he writes:
“You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
Like Jesus, Paul’s vision for ministry was not to do all the gospel preaching/teaching himself, but to commit the task to others, whether that was the 12 (Matt. 28:2) or to elders in local assemblies (1 Tim. 3:1-7, Titus 1:1-8).
If elders are not given opportunities to teach, how will they ever be equipped to do so effectively?
Runners learn to race by running, chefs learn to cook by cooking, and elders learn to preach by preaching.
This aspect of elder equipping is not only my responsibility however; it also belongs to the congregation. One of the men that has influenced me most as a preacher once said,
“One of the jobs of congregations is to listen to bad sermons.”
By that, he was simply acknowledging that getting better at preaching requires reps, and like a pee-wee basketball player shooting a ball for the first time, those first reps can be less than pretty. But good coaches (and so, wise congregations) are patient with those ugly shots because they know that with more reps, the ball will eventually go in.
Therefore, it needs to be understood by the congregation what’s happening when a new guy is getting his feet wet in the pulpit.
I am a better preacher now solely because y’all let me stumble over my words, say confusing things, and preach wayyyyy too long, for my first several years.
Lord willing, this will also be the case for our present and future elders the Lord will raise up for us.
4) Shared Shepherding is the Biblical Model
Most importantly, the main reason I don’t preach every Sunday is because shared shepherding, or a plurality of elders, is the model handed down to us in the scripture. While there does seem to be a hint of elders who may be set apart and compensated financially so they can give themselves to the work more fully (1 Tim. 5:17),
the idea of a solo pastor/elder is foreign to the New Testament.
In every instance where elders are mentioned, it is always plural (Acts 14:23; 17:20, 28, 21:18, Phil. 1:1, Ti. 1:5, Jas. 5:14, 1 Pet. 5:1-2). While there are examples of a set apart leader, such as Moses or James, even Moses is eventually rebuked for not sharing the load with the other leaders the Lord had given him.
Having the elders regularly preach puts teeth on our conviction that the leadership of local churches is given to elders, mitigates against the conscious or subconscious understanding that, “Yes, we have elders, but Josh is the real elder”, and allows God’s blessings to his people to flow to more people through more qualified, called, and commended, leaders.
Conclusion
(An elder) must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it (Titus 1).
Maranatha,
Josh