One of the reasons I love Fall is that it signals the start of a new ministry year for churches and Christian schools. After a welcome change of pace in the summer, it feels good to get back into healthy rhythms of life and ministry.
Fresh starts bring renewed enthusiasm and raised expectations. But what should we expect to see happen in this new ministry year? How do we raise our expectations without becoming unrealistic? How do we right-size our ministry expectations?
In my book, The Heart of the Preacher, I wrestle with the issue of expectations for those who preach and teach God’s Word. While the chapter is focused on preachers, the principles apply to all who serve the Lord in ministry.
When it comes to the impact your preaching makes in people’s lives, how would you describe your expectations? High or low? Realistic or optimistic? Do you anticipate that God’s Spirit will work through your message in dramatic ways? In quiet ways? In any way?
Expectations are a tricky thing for us as preachers. On one hand, we know we should have high expectations. After all, the Word of God is living and active, able to penetrate the hardest of hearts and bring about spiritual transformation (Hebrews 4:12). What’s more, our God can do “far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). We’ve been personally and powerfully impacted by sermons we’ve heard. We’ve also seen God graciously use our preaching of the gospel to change someone’s eternal destiny. So we have good reason for great expectations.
On the other hand, many of us have preached long enough to know that dramatic changes rarely come from an individual message. Judging by the typical conversations in the lobby immediately after the Sunday service—about ballgames, business, or barbecues—we sometimes wonder if our sermons are having any impact at all. We can also look at the lives of some who have listened to our preaching for years and not see much evidence of significant spiritual progress. Perhaps we should lower our expectations to lessen our frustrations. As Dr. Richard Swenson says, “Unrealistic expectations are premeditated resentments.”[1]
Many of us live with some tension when it comes to expectations. We want to preach full of faith but don’t want to wind up full of disappointment. We want to aim high but not sink low if we don’t see immediate results. So to keep our hearts strong, we will need to right-size our expectations.
When it comes to resetting expectations as a preacher, I’ve benefitted from reflecting on Jesus’ story of the four soils (Luke 8:4–15). This parable helps us calibrate our expectations in a theologically wise way. Jesus’ parable reminds us that as we faithfully broadcast God’s Word, we can expect 1) different kinds of results, 2) incremental rates of growth, and 3) varying amounts of fruit.
Different Kinds of Results
Jesus told the parable of the soils to explain the spectrum of responses to his preaching. He pictured his message as the seed and his hearers as the soil. The determining variable in the different responses to his preaching was the condition of the soil—the condition of the heart and life of the hearer.
The same seed produced different results in the various soils. The seed that fell on the path never penetrated the soil and never germinated. It was immediately stolen away by Satan and quickly forgotten. The seed falling on rocky soil had an immediate but short-lived impact. The seed landing among the thorns showed early promise but proved ultimately unproductive, choked out by the worries and cares of life. Only the seed landing on good soil took root and bore fruit.
Jesus’ parable should shape our expectations as preachers. On any given Sunday, all four soils show up at church. As a result, we should anticipate that our sermons will have different effects on those who listen.
Those whose hearts are hard will not get much out of the message, regardless of our faithful preparation and passionate presentation. I once saw a cartoon showing a man sitting in his office at work. The caption read, “Jim remembers something his pastor said in last Sunday’s sermon.” That sounds encouraging until we learn that Jim remembers his pastor saying, “Is it hot in here, or is it just me? Could someone please check the thermostat?” For those whose hearts have become hardened, this may be about all they remember from last week’s service.
Thankfully, we also preach to those with honest and good hearts (Luke 8:15). These people receive the word implanted that can save their souls (James 1:21). They prove to be more than hearers of the Word but doers as well (James 1:22). The same message that deflects off the hearts of the hardened gets absorbed and applied in their lives in a fruitful way.
All this implies we should preach with dual expectations. We should realistically expect some to remain unmoved and unchanged by our best efforts at preaching God’s Word. At the same time, we should be optimistic, anticipating others will come ready to receive and respond to God’s Word in life-shaping ways. Paradoxically, we should preach with both high and low expectations for the impact of our messages.
Incremental Rates of Growth
The parable of the soils helps us on another level as well. It not only reminds us to expect different kinds of results, it teaches us to expect different rates of growth.
Jesus’ agricultural metaphor highlights the truth that growth occurs over time. In fact, incremental, unspectacular growth is the norm. Occasionally, plants spring up in visible ways; typically, growth is far less dramatic. What’s true for plants is generally the case for people as well.
Like many parents, Linda and I had a wall in our basement where we charted the physical growth of our kids. Every six months or so, we’d stand them up against the wall and mark their current height. Sometimes growth had been dramatic—an inch in less than a year. Other times, growth had been slower. But almost all of the time, physical growth was difficult to detect on a day-to-day basis. Only our semi-annual measurements revealed the changes that had been taking place over time.
What’s true of physical growth is true for spiritual growth: it normally occurs incrementally. While Christians do experience growth spurts, most growth in grace is gradual, difficult to detect on a week-by-week basis. This should encourage us to keep preaching the Word even when we fail to see dramatic evidence of spiritual growth in the lives of our hearers.
I remember a conversation I had with my son Michael when he served as a youth pastor. He’d just heard a radio interview with a youth ministry specialist who advised youth leaders to spend less time preparing messages and more time making personal contact with students. After all, the youth expert argued, students will not remember your messages but will remember you came to their soccer games or took them to Starbucks.
My son, who had been working hard to prepare scriptural messages for the weekly youth group meetings, felt confused and discouraged by what he heard. Should he jettison his efforts to prepare biblical messages for the group? Did his teaching ministry have any value?
I asked him a question: “How many of mom’s meals do you remember from your growing up years?” He remembered only a few—birthday meals, Thanksgiving dinners. I reminded him his mom had made nutritious meals every day for years, even though he had forgotten the specifics of what she served. However, without her faithful work of providing nutritious meals, he would not have grown up healthy and strong.
The same holds true for the spiritual meals preachers prepare. People may only remember a few of our sermons, but faithfully feeding them God’s Word helps them grow up to be healthy and strong Christians. Growth may look unspectacular in the short run but it’s still significant in the long run.
Varying Amounts of Fruit
There’s one more lesson preachers can take from Jesus’ parable of the soils: we can expect our preaching to produce different amounts of fruit in the lives of our hearers.
The seed planted in good soil produced a yield of thirty, sixty, or hundredfold. This truth reminds us that, even among those with honest and good hearts, the impact of our messages will not be uniform. We should expect differing amounts of spiritual fruit in the lives of those who respond to the Word. The fact that some show a hundredfold rate of growth should not cause us to dismiss the thirty- or sixtyfold changes in others. As Paul reminded the Corinthians, it is God who “gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7).
All in all, Jesus’ parable of the soils prompts us to preach with both raised and realistic expectations. We get a picture of what this looks like in the ministry of Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon stepped into the pulpit with great expectations that God would use his Word to save the lost and sanctify the saved. Spurgeon expected other preachers to have the same outlook. A pastor once came to Spurgeon for advice, admitting his disappointment that so few trusted Christ for salvation when he preached. Spurgeon reportedly asked the discouraged pastor, “But surely you do not always expect conversions when you preach?” “No, of course I do not,” the minister replied. “Well, then,” Spurgeon said, “be it unto you according to your faith.”[2] A preacher’s raised expectations evidence his robust, Christ-honoring faith.
While Spurgeon preached with soaring expectations, he remained theologically grounded and realistic at the same time. As he ascended each step up to his pulpit, he silently whispered, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.”[3] He understood that unless the Spirit of God worked through the Word he proclaimed, nothing of eternal significance would happen.
So should you have high or low expectations when it comes to the impact of your preaching? The answer is yes. On one hand, preach with the sober realization that you cannot change a person’s heart or bring about spiritual transformation—even with your best sermons. At the same time, preach with the confident assurance that God’s Spirit uses his Word to bring about the miracle of new birth and spiritual growth. As you step up to speak, quietly echo Charles Spurgeon’s prayer: “I believe in the Holy Spirit.”
[1] Richard Swenson, In Search of Balance (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2010), 174.
[2] A. T. Pierson, From the Pulpit to the Palm-Branch: A Memorial of C. H. Spurgeon (New York: A. C. Armstrong and Son, 1892), 155.
[3] Steven J. Lawson, The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon (Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2012), 106.
This article is taking from Rick Reed’s book, The Heart of the Preacher: Preparing Your Soul to Proclaim God’s Word. You can order a copy of the book here.
(This material is used by permission of Lexham Press).
Rick and Linda Reed 