The Person of the Preacher
I’m escaping back into my childhood to describe what I consider to be the primary qualities of today’s preacher.
I call this the 4-H Preacher: one who is holy, humble, hungry, and hopeful. Being raised on a farm, I was shaped by membership in our local 4-H Club. This is a youth organization that has been around for more than 100 years (think Boy and Girl Scouts for farm kids). Our 4-H leaders were respected members of the community who took time out of their busy lives to help youths become contributing citizens. I never forgot their investment in me and others of my peers. It seems like this quadrilateral of holy, humble, hungry, and hopeful sums up the character qualities we need in today’s preachers.
Holy
What happens to terms that connect us with transcendence in a world that considers itself above all that superstition (note the irony of feeling above what is from above)? They get deconstructed and sometimes even profaned. And not all that happens outside the church. We have helped turn the idea of holiness into a byword, something to be mocked rather than sought.
Holiness is seen in terms of what we should not do (like: I don’t smoke, and I don’t chew, and I don’t go with girls who do, or contemporized somewhat: I don’t vape and I ain’t woke, but I just hang with my own folk) rather than its foundational sense of being different and dedicated.
Preachers have no choice; we are to be holy, just like the rest of God’s people (1 Pet 1:16; Lev 11:44). We may need to do some reclamation and reconstruction on this term to make it meaningful in our contemporary context. Who and whose we are should naturally manifest itself in transformed attitudes and actions. Simply put, being holy affects the status and nature of anyone or anything deemed to be so. The preacher’s character should reflect this kind of Spirit-inspired transformation as foundational to the preaching life.
This sense of the Spirit’s good work does not consist only in producing one who is the paragon of piety, but one through whom this spiritual and character formation flows through to others more like a conduit than merely a receptacle. When it comes to holiness, preachers are to think “pipe,” not “pot.” This is where the preacher’s transformation begins. Character depends on holiness.
Humble
The humility-hubris continuum is a long one, with space for everyone somewhere. Some preachers’ preferences place them more on the self-deprecating side rather than the self-promoting side, but the temptation toward arrogance is present in everyone. No one is exempt. There are plenty of ways preachers may be prone to bragging, even humble bragging, which is how much of it is expressed these days.
Even though the public opinion of preachers is declining, it is still possible for preachers to feel they must be the smartest people in the room. If that is the case, one of two things has happened. One, they are in a very small room; or two, they probably haven’t stopped talking long enough to listen to anyone else. The preacher’s calling is not to dazzle or sizzle but to serve and sustain.
A truly humble preacher is someone who does not need to keep score, does not grumble when treated like a servant, is not threatened by the gifts and successes of others, and is not preoccupied with their own. They have a sane and balanced view of their strengths and weaknesses.
Hungry
The preacher’s hunger has nothing necessarily to do with fasting or financial challenges, even though both can be part of the vocation. This quality reflects an attitude that refuses to float in the placid waters of entitlement or to be satisfied with comfortable mediocrity. To be hungry is not the same as being driven—a lesson all preachers need to learn, hopefully, sooner rather than later. Hunger is seen in a natural curiosity and a love of learning that leads to creativity, innovation, and a willingness to take one for the team.
Hungry preachers love to come to work in the morning out of the anticipation of what challenges and possibilities await them. Such enthusiasm is contagious, even if the preacher’s personality is not gregarious or extraverted. Enthusiasm is deeper than extraversion.
Hunger in the earlier years of the preaching ministry looks different than in later years. Younger preachers need to display hunger as they set the tone for their ministries—not just sliding by or going over the top with zeal without knowledge. Later in ministry, the temptation to lose or lessen hunger comes in the form of comfort. Comfort is the enemy of courage, and it is easier to coast than it is to charge the hill (even if it is just a molehill).
Hopeful
Preaching is intensely eschatological. Preachers who deny eschatology have no future (please excuse the dad joke). By eschatology, I mean that preaching is animated by hope.
What we do as preachers will always be incomplete in light of what is to come. We are not as competent as we will be; our congregations will not be as mature as they will be; our impact will not be as evident as it will be, and the results of our struggling and suffering will not be as obvious as they will be. That there is more to come is what keeps the preacher preaching through seasons when it looks like no one is paying attention. Preachers are hopeful people, not optimistic ones because often, the first casualty of optimism is reality. True hopefulness also guards against cynicism.
Cynicism is a contemporary epidemic easily contracted by any unguarded preacher who dares to serve in these uncertain times and whose heaven-focus has been swallowed by a caustic self-focus exacerbated by impatience. The hopeful preacher can keep this wolf at bay by maintaining a growing dependence on God and the close company of other fellow servants of the Word who have not caved to the pressures of their unfulfilled expectations.
Where to Find Blayne Banting's Books
Blayne Banting has authored several books on preaching, many of which are used as textbooks at Briercrest College and Seminary. They can be purchased using the following links:
*Disclaimer: If you purchase one of Dr. Banting's books using the link, he will receive royalties at no extra cost to you.
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