Letter II – Preach the Word, Not the Crowd

Another Letter to a Young Pulpit

Young brother,

A subtle temptation follows every man who climbs into a pulpit: the temptation to wow and win the crowd.

I do not mean by preaching truth that stirs hearts, nor by showing earnestness that moves men to repentance—those are good and desirable things.

I speak of that sly, flesh-flattering ambition to be impressive, to sound like your favorite preacher, or to make a name for yourself among men who wear suits and sit on platforms.

Let me say it plainly: we are not called to move the crowd—we are called to feed the flock. God does not judge your sermon by how many shout, cry, clap or run to the altar. He weighs it by whether you’ve rightly handled His Word.

“Preach the word,” Paul told young Timothy—not preach your word, or a popular word, or what sounds like a word. Just the Word (2 Tim. 4:2).

And yet, I’ve heard men build sermons around illustrations, craft outlines around jokes, or borrow from others as if sermon-building were spiritual plagiarism. I know how easy it is to let emotion carry a message when exegesis is absent.

But we are not actors. We are not entertainers. We are stewards of the oracles of God. We stand between God and man with the sacred duty to proclaim, “Thus saith the Lord.”

If you draw a crowd, good. But if you feed them with fluff and sugar, you’ve only fattened them for the kill. Oh, yes, I know you want to be the "honey" preacher. you want to always be under the spout where the glory comes out! I get it!

But Shouldn’t We Preach with Power?

Yes. A thousand times, yes. But true power flows from truth—not theatrics. Jumping over pews, running along the armrests, standing on pulpits, wearing a napkin on your head (Yes, I knew someone who did it)....none of this equates with "good preaching."

Study hard. Pray much. Prepare carefully. Develop your craft as a speaker. Illustrate well. But never—never—substitute emotional fire for spiritual depth. Some sermons burn hot but leave no light. Others shine with truth and change lives even if no one claps.

Don’t be so desperate to “have liberty” that you skip labor. Real liberty comes when your soul has been soaked in the Word, your mind is full of the text, your life aligns with the truth, and your heart is bowed before God.

Preaching by Echo

There is a tendency for young preachers to preach by imitation. They copy a voice, a style, a cadence. But imitation is not inspiration. It’s one thing to learn from faithful men; it’s another to parrot them. God didn’t call you to be a copy—He called you to be a conduit.

If all you preach is what you’ve heard someone else say, what will you do when you must answer for your doctrine? Will you be able to mount an answer? Will the Word of God be so much a part of who you are that you are not an echo, but a voice? A true voice?

The Word of God is not shallow. You cannot live off scraps from another man’s study. Go into the text. Wrestle with it. Let it preach to you before you preach it to others.

What Does Faithful Preaching Look Like?

Faithful preaching is marked by:

• Clarity – Can the people understand the truth clearly?

• Fidelity – Have you stayed true to the meaning of the text?

• Charity – Have you delivered the truth with the spirit of Christ?

• Gravity – Do you realize the weight of what you’re saying?

Young preacher, you may never be famous. You may never fill a tent. You may never be invited to preach at a big meeting. You may never have the masses hanging on your every word, but if you preach the Word with faithfulness, the Chief Shepherd will say, “Well done.”

That is enough.

Let the crowd rise or sit still. Let the room be moved or remain quiet. Just preach the Word. Pray much that the preached word will actively shape and mold the lives of those who hear!

Feed the flock. Break the bread of life. Point to Christ.

The crowd may forget your clever phrases, but they’ll never forget when God met with them through His Word.

And that, dear brother, is what we’re after.