Editor's note: Dean Shriver
obtained his M.Div. from Western Seminary and his D.Min.
at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (under the direction of Dr. Haddon
Robinson.) Dr. Shriver is founding pastor of Intermountain Baptist Church
in Salt Lake City, UT where he has ministered for 19 years. He is the
author of "Nobody's Perfect, But You Have to Be: The Power
of Personal Integrity in Effective Preaching," published by
Baker Books. For a free copy in eBook format please visit SermonCentral.com's Preaching Excellence section. Dr. Shriver lives in South Jordan, UT with his wife Nancy and their three
children. We've asked him here to address the SermonCentral audience on
the topic of “integrity in preaching."
PERSONAL INTEGRITY IN PREACHING
by Dean Shriver
“Your temper is uneven;
you lack love for your neighbors. You
grow angry too easily; your tongue is too sharp—thus the people will not hear
you.” John Wesley wrote these words to
a struggling preacher. In them, we are
reminded that the impact of our preaching isn’t ultimately determined by our
mastery of homiletic technique or our clever use of illustration. The preaching that transforms lives is
rooted as deeply in how we live as in what we say. In other words, preaching to change lives requires us to preach
with integrity. Integrity is “the state
of being whole or undivided.” As
preachers, we demonstrate integrity when unity exists between the truth we
proclaim to our congregations and the lives we live before them. Simply put, integrity exists when we
“practice what we preach.”
The call to
preach requires more of us than verbal proclamation of truth. We must not only speak God’s Word so it can
be heard, we must live God’s Word so it can be seen. To know this, we need look no further than the ministry of
Christ. Jesus is our model for
ministry. Jesus is God’s perfect
preacher. John 1:14 tells us that, in
Jesus, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen
His glory.” Jesus did more than speak
truth. He lived as truth
incarnate. Consider Jesus’ sermon on
servanthood in John 13. His words
(13:13-17) are empowered by his life (13:1-5).
What Jesus says and what Jesus is are one and the same! This is our model for preaching.
Paul, too,
understood that the call to preach is a call to both speak and live the
truth. Paul committed himself to a life
of integrity that both validated and empowered his preaching. He lived carefully so as to put “no stumbling
block in anyone’s path.” More
surprising—and certainly more challenging—was Paul’s habit of calling attention
to his own conduct. Twice he pleads
with the Corinthians to “Imitate me!”
To the Philippians he says, “Join with others in following my
example.” According to Hebrews 13:7, we
should be able to make this same plea.
As preachers, we too are called to live a life worthy of imitation.
But what does that mean? How “good” do we have to be to be “good
enough” to preach? What’s a life of
integrity look like? One thing’s for
sure—it’s not about perfection. Paul
makes that clear in Philippians 3:12.
He speaks of his own life and writes, “Not that I have already obtained
all this, or have already been made
perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ has taken
hold of me.”
Paul admits it—he wasn’t
perfect. But he was striving. He was growing. He was making progress in his Christian life. From his example we understand that the
integrity that empowers our preaching isn’t a standard to be met—although
standards are involved. Rather,
integrity is a process—a daily process of “pressing on” with Christ. Choosing to actively engage in this process
is a big part of what it means to live a life worthy of imitation. When we, as preachers, are careful to “press
on” in our own spiritual lives, we serve as visual aides for younger believers
trying to grasp what it means to follow Christ. As we learn to respond to life’s circumstances God’s way, we help
those we preach to do the same. When we
sin, we can show them what it means to seek forgiveness. When sinned against, we can model what it
means to forgive. When we grieve we can
demonstrate how to grieve with hope.
In the end, of course, we have
to admit that our lives will never perfectly reflect the truth we preach. Even so, by God’s grace, we can be the kind
of messengers others can point to and say, “There! That’s what following Jesus looks like.” And showing people what following Jesus
looks like is the integrity that makes our hearers sit up and listen. It’s the integrity God uses to change lives
when we preach.