Traps for a preacher

(HT: Biblicalpreaching.net)

1. Pride – all believers are prone to fall into this trap, more so a preacher whose ministry is in the public eye
2. Riding the hobby horse – if a preacher is not in the practice of expositing the Bible, he falls into the trap of preaching from a few favorite topics and ends up preaching “How to….” sermons.
3. Taking a cheap shot from the pulpit – This is a subtle danger for every preacher to try and wrap a particular point in his message around a brother or sister in the congregation. A temptation to bring out an application pointed at someone in the congregation. “You know who is at the forefront of your mind. That face that is constantly there as you prepare your message. Perhaps a critic. Perhaps someone who has angered you. Perhaps someone who has made it their mission to bring you down, so you are tempted to make it your mission to launch applicational mortars from the relative security of the pulpit. Don’t. Preach the Word for the benefit of all. Don’t take aim and fire cheap shots. To do so is a poor strategy on many levels, not least the spiritual level!”
4. Managing the clock – Running out of time by focusing too long on point 1,2 & 3 and rushing through the rest
5. Disconnected from the congregation – Unable to gauge the maturity level of the congregation.
6. Insensitivity to the move of the Holy Spirit – Unable to move in the prompting of the Holy Spirit by being too rigid with the manuscript
7. Struggle to alter the hearers – A deliberate intention to change the hearers (force a change). It is our job to preach, the Holy Spirit’s job to convince, correct, comfort and challenge
8. Majoring the minors – Temptation to dwell on the peripheral and neglect the core message of the text. Missing the original intention of the Holy Spirit in providing the text to us.
9. Struggle to get the congregation to respond – Expect the audience to ‘mind read’ the preacher and give an accurate answer to the question thrown at them. this sometimes frustrates the congregation may even cause the hearers to withdraw into their shells even more. Stop the Quiz time.

Any more that you can think of?

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