Are You a "Parrot Preacher?"

I admit I was when I first began. 

I was a sophomore in high school and had just surrendered to the ministry.  My pastor asked me to preach on a Wednesday night and he loaned me his office and a simple commentary—with an easy to follow outline!  I preached on Matthew 5:16 and being the light of the world.  The commentary gave me the outline—a light guides, a light warns…you get the picture.  So, that’s what I preached.  I simply repeated what I had seen and read.  It worked, and the people appreciated it and were very encouraging.

But, as time went on and God gave me more opportunities to preach, there was a restlessness…a dissatisfaction with what I had learned in the beginning.  I was no longer content to preach other people’s “treasures” or truths they had learned.  Then, God brought a man into my life who taught me how to study the Bible for myself.  He taught me to observe, interpret, and apply.  I began to see truths from God jump off the page.  Now they were no longer someone else’s truths I was repeating, they were truths that God was showing me and ingraining into my heart and life!  I believe at this point my teaching and preaching took on new life!  I was no longer a “parrot preacher,” but one who was sharing what God had taught him directly!  There was more passion, more conviction, more heart, and more authority in my teaching and preaching!  I’m so thankful for that man (and the others that would follow) who taught me how to study the Word for myself.

As I write this with deep gratitude to those who taught me…. I realize there are some who are still “parrot preachers.”  They are preaching other men’s sermons and truths; they are preaching books, but not THE Book!.  And they wonder why there seems to be something missing…why the authority is not there…why there is a restlessness within.  If you’re there, I urge you to take the next step.  Learn how to dig into the Word and study it for yourself, to mine the Scriptures for those beautiful treasures!  Learn how to OBSERVE the text using key words and context; learn how to INTERPRET the Word so that you are accurately pulling truth from the text, rather than putting your truth on the text; learn how to APPLY the Word so others know how to live it out in everyday life!

There is a joy when God’s truths “jump off the page,” and you are able to share them with others! It’s one of the great joys of being a preacher—preaching His truth rather than others’ truths.