Why I Don’t Preach Sometimes

Dear Pastors and Ministry Leaders:

Thank you for checking in regularly. I hope this blog is a source of strengthening for your resolve to serve Jesus with abandon, no matter the cost. And I pray this blog resources your fruitfulness in our common mission to plant and pastor disciple-making churches.

Kathy and I just returned from a three-week mini-sabbatical and are praising God for the refreshment of body and soul we’ve received. August through December was an exhausting stretch for us. And while we honestly hate to be away from our church family, we have learned that the discipline of silence, where we totally cease from preaching, is an essential ingredient to longevity in ministry. Is it possible you are working too hard and serving too much? Here are some reasons why regular ‘breaks’ from the preaching/teaching that interrupt the routine are a must. By breaks I mean more than ‘one-off’ weekends. I mean two or three times per year, when you are out of the pulpit for 2-3 weeks consecutively and don’t appear on the platform or in the lobby at all.

1: When you interrupt weekly preaching you can focus on feeding your own soul.

Pastors, we are Christians first and ministry leaders only secondarily. One of the biggest struggles of being a lead pastor is that you spend a lot more time giving out than taking in. Sermon prep is a feeding of sorts, but not the way the rest of the church experiences it. Every member of your church gets to sit and listen to the proclamation of God’s Word on a weekly basis. Podcasts and online sermons can supplement, but it is a wonderful thing to sit in church and worship Jesus and hear His Word, as your people do weekly. Schedule regular intervals to be a church member, and you will be a better church leader the rest of the time. You can’t teach what you don’t know, and you can’t lead where you don’t go.

2: When you interrupt weekly preaching you can raise up other preachers.

Good men in your church, whether staff or volunteer, have teaching gifts God wants to develop. Most staff pastors don’t want to preach weekly, but an occasional opportunity for the most gifted among your leaders will grow them up and meet a need in their own soul. Don’t be concerned that more preaching will unsettle some and create a hunger to preach that will make them want to leave. I say don’t be concerned because that will, in fact, happen. Some staff come for decades, but most come only for years.

One of the greatest compliments to your ministry should be the number of men around the country and around the world who served under you for a season, and now want to serve similar to you in a different location. Teach the church that raising up gifted preachers and sending them out is part of the mission. It’s hard to see good men go, but trying to keep them when God is calling them out will not end well. Those who are called to lead their own churches need to know that obedience to that call will be celebrated, or they will begin to feel frustrated and chafe under a suppressive environment. Taking a little break multiple times per year will raise up other gifted preachers—and that builds the church of Christ.

3: When you interrupt weekly preaching you put the focus where it belongs.

The church should be a refuge from, not a repeat of, our celebrity culture. Even in New Testament times Paul had to resist the Corinthians who were voicing their preferences saying, “‘I am of Paul,’ and ‘I am of Apollos,’” (1 Corinthians 1:12). I have always taught our people “The messenger is nothing, the message is everything.” But few actions say that as clearly as standing down once in a while so other worthy messengers can stand up. Even the most concentrated efforts to reduce celebrity do not reduce people’s general preference for the person they hear most frequently. That doesn’t make the ‘main guy’ better, it just means people are comfortable with what is familiar. Even if they don’t shout for joy when you ‘disappear’ once in a while, the discerning will see you are weaning them off their focus on a particular messenger and discipling them to honor the Word of God, regardless of the mouth piece.

4: When you interrupt weekly preaching you can get some other things done.

Preaching prep and delivery takes about two-thirds of my time, approximately 40 weeks per year. Into the rest of the time, I squeeze: Elder leadership, staff meetings, future planning, personal development, service planning, special events, staff development, small group participation, correspondence, crisis management, blog writing, outside ministry, professional development, leader training, etc., etc. Weeks without a message to prepare are weeks when you get a lot of other ministry priorities accomplished.

Press past your fear that people will think you are not working. Pastors are always working—at least faithful ones are. During this recent break I worked 5+ hours a day, 7 days a week. I caught up on a lot of reading, phone calls, future direction, and correspondence that had been lagging for a long time. I reconnected with my wife in significant, marriage-sustaining ways that the normal routine does not allow space for. My church is counting on my enduring faithfulness to Christ and my family, and you are not ceasing to serve when you step out of the pulpit to attend to other matters. Silence the guy who says, “Pastors only work one day a week”—he is an ignoramus. Stop running your life like a juggler or dancing bear at the circus. Be healthy, extend the life of your ministry, share the pulpit with others, and take regular intervals to focus on other important ministry endeavors.



5: When you interrupt weekly preaching you can connect with other pastors.

I have just returned from the annual Harvest Bible Fellowship Pastor retreat in Orlando, Florida. The warmth of the weather was exceeded greatly by the warmth of the fellowship. We have now planted more than 100 churches and almost every man was there with his wife. I am absolutely floored by the character and caliber of these Christ-servants. Love, love, love each one of them, and I’m incredibly fed—and blessed to call them friends, share a meal or a convo in the hallway, and put my own life and ministry in the context of God’s work in so many others. We went to be a blessing to these pastor/wife teams, but left so stirred and refreshed in our own hearts about our common call and commitment to plant VERTICAL CHURCHES around the world until Christ returns.

This time I practiced what I am preaching to you here and did not preach a single message at the retreat. I sat in the back and listened as good men gave great challenges about specific areas of ministry. We were challenged about our walk with Christ, perseverance through suffering, evangelism, and family priorities. After each session there was a panel discussion led by pastors and their wives, and I didn’t participate in leading those either. “Wow, you’re President of Harvest Bible Fellowship and didn’t do any of the ministry at the annual retreat?” No, I did tons of ministry—I just didn’t do it up front.

Change your paradigm pastor! There are many ways we minister that have nothing to do with microphones and pulpits. Preaching will always be the main thing I do, the most important thing I do, and, I pray, the most impactful thing I do. BUT, it is not the only thing I do, and taking regular intervals of rest from that heavy load of responsibility helps me do it better in the long run. After the first weekend in January, following a challenging and busy fall of ministry in and outside our church, I was exhausted. Now, just three Sundays later, I am raring to go, chomping at the bit—and counting the minutes till I have the privilege to stand again before for our congregation and open the Word of Life. This is my 31st year of ministry and I have never been more excited about preaching God’s word, partly because I have learned when NOT to do it.