What's Your Preaching Identity?
Rev. Larry J. Morris III
As a child, I attended Black Baptist churches and I was always in awe of the preachers. They were god-like to me. The way they spoke confidently about God and instructing us in the Way sometimes left me speechless. Many of the preachers demanded we do something after experiencing the preached word. I was also in awe of how the preachers connected with the congregation. The call and response nature of the sermons I heard growing up felt as if the congregation was also involved in the preaching moment. Preachers were god-like in my imagination. They were like the Bible characters come to life!
As I grew up and experienced different denominations and styles of preaching, even within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), my image of the preacher changed. Some preachers were charismatic, like the preachers I experienced growing up. Some preachers were more like story tellers, sometimes leaving the point of the message open to interpretation – not demanding we do anything in particular. Maybe the doing was in the thinking. Some preachers always had some mystery to share with the congregation and preached like they were letting us in on some secret they intended for us to grasp.
When I received my call to preach, I soon learned that preaching was more than God simply downloading something to me, or any other preacher. Mystery is at work in preaching. There’s some dance between the Divine, the preacher, and the congregation. For each of us that dance is different. I invite you to consider your image as a preacher and to consider how you view the dance of the Divine, self, and community in your identity as a preacher. In other words, what image do you hold of yourself as a preacher? Our preaching identity shapes our understanding of the purpose of preaching, how we prepare and deliver our sermons, our expectations of the congregation, and the language we use.
In the book, The Preacher’s Portrait: Five New Testament Word Studies (1961), John Stott offers five traditional images of the preacher derived from Scripture. Stott offers the images of the preacher as steward, herald, witness, father, and servant. In the forward to Slow of Speech and Unclean Lips, Thomas Long offers other common images for preachers, preachers as “pastoral caregivers”, “gospel evangelists”, “relational bridge builders”, “story tellers”, and “social justice prophets.” Others offer the images of preacher as messenger of hope, lover, God’s mystery steward, ridiculous person, fisher, host and guest, one “out of your mind”, and one entrusted. As Long states in the forward, “implied in each of these images are not only direction for the content and delivery of sermons, but also claims about the theological nature of the preaching event.”
As you consider your preaching identity, what image resonates with you for this season of your preaching life? Do you resonate with the image of the preacher as a steward who is responsible for stewarding the riches of Another to a congregation? Do you resonate with the image of the preacher as social justice prophet preaching to the nations for “justice to roll on like a river”? Maybe you see yourself as a midwife intimately connected with the painful birthing process of those you call children? Is there another image not named here that resonates with you?
Considering our preaching identity helps us live more fully into our calling and invitation as preachers. Identities are not static and can change over time, so this exercise is not meant to stifle you as preacher, but an invitation to consider how you show up in your preaching life. Understanding our preaching identity, even if it’s changed over time, is a faithful response to the call to preach. Each image is an expression of the God who works in and through us, often in mysterious ways, to share the good news where ever we are sent.
| 
