A PREACHER is many things: counselor, teacher, fund raiser, church administrator, spiritual trouble shooter. He must be a man of integrity, impeccable personal habits, untarnished reputation, friendliness, and total dedication. He must feel a divine call to the ministry and stand as God's instrument of salvation to men. "Who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Cor. 2:16).
These requirements demand superhuman performance. The preacher must have a direct line to divine power. He is, he must be, a man of God.
Faced with the awesome challenge of this high calling, we sometimes forget that a preacher is also a public figure—a professional man. The world assumes, the church expects, and God re quires the preacher to be a competent performer when he stands before the people. A sense of divine call inspires, natural endowment helps, but basically the ability to speak effectively must be acquired by careful study and diligent effort.
To every Seventh-day Adventist minister we pose the question concerning his status as a public speaker: Are you an amateur or a professional?
Historically, we have felt a justifiable pride in our humble origins. Our pioneers were farmers, tradesmen, seamen—earnest men and women, most of whom had only a limited education. They accepted a divine commission that more sophisticated churchmen did not even hear. Then they grew with their message, acquiring professional competence, until many of them came to shine with polished luster as outstanding public performers.
Now, though some might consider it a mixed blessing, we have become a mature church. Our young preachers come from the Seminary or our colleges with a good background of liberal-arts education as well as a solid foundation in church history and theology. They have studied psychology and counseling. They have completed courses in church organization, homiletics, and public speaking. Both they and their potential audiences have a degree of sophistication our church did not know in its earlier years.
Will these fine young ministers become the superior preachers we have a right to expect them to be? They may. The potential is there. But it will not be an automatic result of their excellent training. Neither will it happen merely because they have been entrusted with history's most important message. Excellence will come only to the man who makes a conscious and deter mined effort—an effort that does not end until his professional career is over.
The world of sports gives us a vivid picture of the difference between amateurs and professionals. Brilliant college athletes, rated as the nation's best, often face a massive disillusionment when they decide to turn professional, because the performance standards are so much higher. Some of them never make it.
We have many fine speakers in the Seventh-day Adventist ministry. For this we are thankful. But judged by professional standards of effective public speaking we also have a host of rather poor preachers. The percentage of mediocrity is far higher than it should be. Every man who accepts an appointment to the ministry should realize that he thereby is expected to be come a professional public speaker, not merely a gifted amateur.
May I suggest three simple rules for reaching and maintaining this standard?
Rule One: Know and Practice the Basic Techniques.
These include the physical problems of voice, enunciation, posture, gesture. Equally important are the psychological factors of emphasis and appeal, as well as more subtle but vital elements such as life, warmth, rapport with the audience. These techniques of delivery must have substance to work with—carefully prepared material. This involves research, logical outline, literate composition, effective illustration.
Rule Two: Seek Critical
Analysis of Your Performance. As a preacher you will receive many compliments. Faithful members with tears in their eyes will say how much the sermon has done for them. A visitor may ask how you could have known what he needed and preached just for him. Your voice, your smile, your interesting illustrations may come in for honorable mention.
These comments are gratifying and buoy you up. But be honest. They are not a fair measure of the quality of your preaching. And they are almost worthless as far as self-improvement is concerned.
Every preacher needs candid appraisal by a qualified observer. Sometimes a helpful wife can serve. But she may be too loving to be really critical, and the preacher may even resent her suggestions. An unbiased third party is more effective. Most helpful is an experienced public speaking coach who can be paid for professional instruction.*
At the very least every preacher can make a tape recording of his sermon and later study it carefully himself.
Rule Three: Strive for Excellence
Every Time You Stand Up to Speak. The sermon is the heart of a preacher's speaking role. Here he does his most effective public work. It is among his most frequently recurring assignments. This demands extra precaution to maintain a consistently high standard. It is relatively easy to sense the importance of a commencement address or a guest-speaker invitation. As a real "professional" you will not allow yourself any mediocre sermons.
Ceremonies require special care. Weddings, funerals, baptisms, ordination services, the ordinances—each of these calls for a special type of dignity and decorum.
But how about mission stories, prayer meeting, and worship talks? And church announcements? Every one of these calls for a standard of excellence, a standard you will demand of yourself every time you speak.
Actors, lecturers, radio-TV stars and announcers depend on the standard of their performance for their professional lives. Ten years in the radio ministry gave me an opportunity for firsthand observation of these people in action. The concentrated effort they expend to perfect their technique puts the average Seventh-day Adventist minister to shame. They know that excellence is essential for survival.
But how does their message compare to ours? We stand between God and a doomed world. We offer men the only hope there is. This divine announcement deserves the clearest channel available.
Do Seventh-day Adventist ministers dare to be satisfied with an amateurish performance?
