…I had the opportunity to fill in for an out-of-town preacher on Sunday morning.  I always enjoy doing this; it’s a hoot!  Since the pastor there gave me free rein to pick a topic, I decide to preach on 1 John 4:7-21 which you will recall is all about the reality of the statement that God is love. As you would imagine if you are a “regular” here, I linked that with the command that we love one another and challenged the people to put love into action by making disciples.  

I’ll freely admit this wasn’t one of my best efforts, I went a little longer than I intended, and had to pause for a coughing fit … there’s something in the air that got me at just the wrong moment.  Otherwise, it seemed to go OK.  After the service, I had the usual comments from people that usually are something like “Wow, I never heard anybody teach it like that before!” Yes, I’m used to that one, and (preachers, pay attention here) they really haven’t heard it that way before, because I do it differently.

I am so over the centuries old homiletic sermon outlines combined with modern day razzamatazz that passes for communication these days.  When I “preach” I just take the simple text and present it straight up as a simple no-brainer: “Hello, yes it really says that, and you are supposed to take it seriously.”  OK, I would never say that, but that’s implicit.  As a result, those texts that people have heard a hundred times have a way of coming to life.

That’s all well and good, but it isn’t why I’m writing this.  One older gentleman came up to me and while shaking my hand, he looked me in the eye and said, “You really were confident in what you were saying and I really appreciate that.”  A little surprised, I thanked him for his kindness…

Later, I though about what the very kind gentleman has said.  Yes, I am a confident speaker with a ton of speaking experience, and consequently, I do things that few preachers would do.  This particular church building is quite large with a lectern up in front, raised up and a good 25 or 30 feet from the front row.  Therefore I spoke from the center aisle. I walked down the aisle about half the length of the building at several points to be near to the people in the back.  It is a simple rule of public speaking that if you remove distance and physical barriers, you will increase attention and retention, so I always try to do this.  Since the regular preacher never does this, it has a double effect. So, yes, even if I weren’t a confident speaker, the people would perceive  confidence.

The real thing that grabbed my attention wasn’t the “tricks of the speaker’s trade” for that is simple technique.  The real issue is this:

Why wouldn’t any Christian be confident in teaching the Word of God?  OK, you’d need to be familiar with the text obviously. Once familiar with it, if you simply present the Word, you don’t have to be an experienced speaker to be confident about it, do you? My confidence is not in my experience or ability, it’s in the Word of God!  It really doesn’t matter if I’m in front of 10,000 people, at the kitchen table or at my keyboard: the confidence come from the Word!

“Oh, that’s great for you Don, but I can’t do it! ”

Didn’t Moses say something like that?  If I remember correctly, he did just fine.  You may not be asked to fill in as a “preacher” but you can do it in your circle of friends, family and contacts, and you can be confident about it; just stand on the Word of God!

Simple!