Category Archives: Public speaking

How to discover your spiritual gift

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(This was first written in 2011, fifteen years ago.  Rather than update it, I decided to reprint it as is.  Use if you can.)

The host pastor welcomes me to the city and begins telling me about his church.

Half the time, the story is the same. The church is weak, they’re running behind the budget, they have a hard time finding enough workers, and the mood is generally poor. He’s been praying that the Lord would use me to spark a reversal of these conditions.

Sunday morning–our first service–I am struck by something at odds with what the pastor has told me. There are plenty of people there. The potential is all around us. But the problem is a great percentage of the people are not giving, not working, not doing anything but occupying a pew and serving as spectators and critics for what the pastor and the overworked few are doing.

This should not be.

God has so arranged matters in His churches that every believer has a job to do and a spiritual gift with which to accomplish it.

I like that statement so much, think I’ll repeat it: God has so arranged matters in His churches that every believer has a job to do and a spiritual gift with which to accomplish it.

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The singer is nervous. Here’s what we told her.

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“Sing unto the Lord a new song” (Psalm 96:1; 98:1; etc).

She has a marvelous voice, one anybody this side of Juilliard would be proud to own.  When she sang in church with her musician husband, they blended wonderfully and blessed the congregation.  But she undermined her own effectiveness by her timidity, that paralyzing self-consciousness which froze her in place and refused to let her enjoy the moment.

Stage fright, we call it.

Who among us is unacquainted with that monster?

Most of us know precisely how she feels.

That’s why, on the final night of our revival meeting, as I expressed appreciation in private to this couple, I spoke to her quietly. “Can I tell you one thing about your presentation?”

She smiled shyly. “I know what you’re going to say.”

And she did, to a point.

I said, “You have a beautiful smile. Look at the sketch I did of you this week. You were smiling.  But I want you to use that smile when you sing.  It will double the effectiveness of what you share.”

Don’t ask me how I know that or whether it’s true.  I just believe it.

Nervousness.  Shyness. Fear. Stage fright. Self-consciousness. Fear of public performance.  However we phrase it, it’s a frightful thing that many of the Lord’s most-gifted servants have to contend with on a regular basis.

Now, we have all learned we can make ourselves smile.  You just turn your lips up.  But commanding our knees not to knock, our voice not to flutter, or our spirits not to panic is another matter altogether.  Anxiety does not respond to commands, otherwise I’d have long ago left behind that tension I feel before doing certain things (which will remain nameless here for the simple reason that they do not matter).

So, readers will want to understand that in talking to the young singer, I was speaking to my own inner self as well.

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The awesomeness of handling the Word of God

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“…rightly dividing the Word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

The other day I posted this on Facebook…

Ever wonder how pastors deal with Sunday morning anxiety?  They’re about to enter the pulpit and lead a congregation to worship the living God, then open His book and declare its life-changing message.  What a responsibility!  How do they cope with so great a burden? I’ll tell you how. They breathe deeply, commit it all to the Lord, and keep telling themselves, ‘Relax, hotshot. This is not about you.‘  —  Most have to say it about 150 times before the message gets through.  For some, 600 repeititons are required. And alas, some never get the message and approach this most solemn of responsibilities thinking it’s all about them.

That generated some response.  And one in particular that resonated with me.

A friend expressed concern for those who cope with “the burden and fear of handling the word of God.”

Right.  Handling the Word of God is both a burden and a fear.

Standing before groups large and small or even individuals and opening God’s Word is a privilege, an opportunity, a responsibility, and a lot of other things. But it’s also a burden and a fear.

We must never take this lightly.  Lives hang in the balance.

The burden of the Lord.

Old Testament prophets would sometimes begin their assignment by announcing “The burden of the Lord” (e.g., Nahum 1:1).  Any pastor who claims not to feel the burden from time to time has been playing at the business of preaching. Well, either that, or delivering someone else’s sermons.

Lives hang in the balance.  People who hear the Word and believe may live forever. Those who reject Christ will have eternity to regret their decision.  And the determining factor sometimes can be the way one declared the “whole counsel of God.”

No wonder some preachers think this is about them, since so much is at risk here. If I do it well, God uses it to change lives forever. And if I do it poorly or get in the way, those who reject my ineffective message will more than likely reject my Savior too.

The burden is enormous.

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What I would not do for a great story!

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“And without parables (great stories!) Jesus did not teach” (Mark 4:34).

I once sat through a long convention session just to hear a motivational speaker.  The story with which he opened was so good it became a mainstay in my arsenal of great illustrations and sermon-helpers.

Time well spent.

I’ve read entire books and come away with one paragraph that became a staple in my preaching thereafter.  It was time well used and money well spent.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the best-selling Eat, Pray, Love”--which a zillion people loved but of which I am not one; sorry!–attended a party 20 years ago and heard something from a fellow whose name she has long forgotten.  She says, Sometimes I think this man came into my life for the sole purpose of telling me this story, which has delighted and inspired me ever since.

That’s how it works.  One story, a lifetime of benefit.

Gilbert says the man told of his younger brother who was an aspiring artist.  Living in Paris and struggling to get by, he seized every opportunity to get his name before people.  One day, in a cafe’ he met some people who invited him to a party that weekend at a castle in the Loire Valley.  This was big stuff and he eagerly accepted the opportunity to hobnob with people of wealth and influence.

This would be the party of the year, they said.  The rich and famous would be in attendance, as well as members of European royalty.  And, they informed him, it was to be a masquerade ball where everyone went all out on their costumes.  “Dress up, they said, and join us!”

All that week, the little brother worked on a costume he was sure would knock them dead.  His outfit would be the centerpiece of the ball, the one sure to generate the most interest and conversation.  When the day came, he rented a car and drove three hours to the castle.  He changed into his costume in the car and walked up to the castle, head held high, confidence and excitement exuding from the pores of his skin.

Entering the castle, he quickly realized his mistake.

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They asked you to pray at the secular convention and you agreed. Now what?

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Sooner or later this happens to every pastor:  Some civic (translation: ‘non-religious‘) outfit calls and asks you to lead a prayer at their gathering.  Sometimes it’s the city council or state legislature, sometimes it’s a convention or some club’s gathering.  You are faced with the decision on what to say and what you should not say. 

So here’s my story.

I was in my fourth year pastoring the First Baptist Church of Kenner, LA, in metro New Orleans (across the street from the New Orleans International Airport).  I received a phone call one day informing me that when the American Dental Association held its annual meeting in our city a few months hence, they wanted me to offer the invocation.  I was surprised and honored.

The caller said I would have three minutes for the prayer. She added, “And Pastor, please make it interdenominational.”  In my journal I wrote: “Had she said to omit the name of Jesus, I would have declined the honor for the sake of principle. As it was, I felt I could do something that would satisfy everyone.”

The day came.  It was a huge hotel in downtown New Orleans.  Perhaps 700 to 1,000 people in the room.

Here is what I wrote in my journal:

“The President of the ADA is Dr. Gaines, a dentist from Greenville, SC.  Said his SS teacher gave him my name.  Dr. John Roberts, editor of the SC Baptist Courier.  Just before the meeting started (8:30 am), backstage I met Heather Whitestone, Miss America 1994 (or is it 1995?), the near-deaf lass from Alabama.  We spoke briefly.  Before leading the pledge of allegiance she told the audience how much she loves this country and is grateful to those who have kept it free.  Her chaperone whispered to me, “I never know what she’s going to say.”

After she finished, I prayed the invocation.  Shall I record it here?

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What it means to magnify your ministry

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Say to Archippus, ‘Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it” (Colossians 4:17).

“I magnify my ministry” (Romans 11:13).  

The opposite of magnifying your ministry would be minimizing it.

Ever see anyone do that? What would that look like?

I don’t want to focus on answering that question, but want to interject here that the enemy of the Lord Jesus loves to minimize the ministries of those God calls.  We know that and we deal with it.  The tragedy is seeing someone minimizing their own ministry.  Doing the devil’s work for him.

Not real smart.  Let’s not do that.

Let’s focus on MAGNIFYING your ministry.  Making much of it.

Remember how Solomon prayed as he took office?  He said to the Lord, Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.  So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people…. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours? (That’s First Kings 3.)

He’s humbling himself, as he prayed, “I am but a little child” (I Kings 3:7). But he is also magnifying his ministry.

–They are God’s people.

–They are a great people, too many to count.

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The layman speaks to the entire church. This could be scary.

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The typical church member is out of his element when suddenly asked to speak to the whole church.

Maybe it’s a testimony or even a sermon.  Perhaps a report of some kind or a devotional.  The layperson who has never done this before the entire congregation–particularly one of several hundred people–is frequently frightened out of his wits.

At the conclusion of the worship service, Marlene said to me, “I’m sorry I took the entire service, Pastor. But the Lord was leading me.” Translation: She really got into her talk and couldn’t control it.

As a young pastor, I had been inviting church members to share testimonies in the morning worship service, something along the lines of 5-7 minutes.  That’s how it happened that Marlene taught her young pastor a lesson he never forgot.  In time, I learned to interview the individual and to keep hold of the microphone the entire time!

Since Marlene had not prepared adequately, once she got going, she couldn’t find a convenient stopping place. She kept on for a full 40 minutes.

No one should blame their failure to prepare on the Lord.

I see it happen all the time.  It’s almost embarrassing.

A man is given five minutes to present something in a formal program. He gets up and speaks and speaks. Fifteen minutes later, he says, “They told me I had five minutes to do this. So, in the time I have left….”

On the second row, his wife is trying to maintain her composure. But she’d like to crawl under the pew.

Here then is my list of Things non-clergy should know before they rise to speak in church….

One. Standing in front of the congregation causes one to lose all sense of time.  I know that’s true because preachers deal with it all the time.

Two. Prepare. A speaker needs to plan carefully and fully two important things: what to say and what not to say. The second is as important as the first. And  the only way to do the second–that is, prepare what not to say–is to practice several times. That way, he will see where the spots are where his mind wants to take a detour.  Preparation makes the difference.

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How I overcame the fear of public speaking and came to love it

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Good title, right?

Now a confession. I was never afraid to stand in front of a group and speak. Not ever. In fact, quite the opposite.

As a fourth grader in our little West Virginia schoolhouse, teacher Margaret Meadows would periodically invite class members who had read an interesting story to stand and share it. I recall Violet Garten (love that name!) was so good at it. But when she called on me (I’m the guy frantically waving my hand) and I walked to the front of the class, I broke the rules.

I did not relate a story I had read somewhere.

I made one up on the spot.

That is serious something or other, I don’t know what. Was it a love for being the center of attention? Self-confidence on steroids? Not given to introspection, I’ve never tried to answer that, but I am confident that little snapshot reveals a world of insight on the man I became. Positive and negative.

In high school, one of the requirements for presidents of local chapters of the FFA (Future Farmers of America) was that we be able to address an audience of our members for a full 30 minutes.  I don’t recall actually doing that, but addressing audiences 30 minutes at a clip would end up describing my life. I’m a Southern Baptist preacher, you understand. As of this December 2, I will have logged a full half-century of preaching.

When friends tell me they hate public speaking with a dread, that they would rather take a whipping than stand in front of a group and speak about anything, I’m speechless and cannot begin to identify.  So, yesterday I did something.

I asked my Facebook friends who dislike public speaking to tell us why.

Most of the responses boiled down to one thing: fear.   They feared forgetting their speech in the middle of their presentation, being rejected by the audience, boring them, and outright failure.

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Pastor, you’ve been scheduled to preach on a big program. My advice: Find out whom you follow.

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After the death of comic genius Robin Williams, someone was reminiscing about the time he preceded Bob Hope on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson.

For some reason, Bob Hope was late arriving at the studio that night. So, instead of Robin Williams following him, which had been the plan, Williams went on stage first and did his hilarious knock-em-dead routine.  People were beside themselves with laughter.

The great Bob Hope arrived and had to follow that.

Robin Williams said, “I don’t think he was angry, but he was not pleased.”

As Bob Hope walked out onto the stage and settled into the chair, Johnny Carson said, “Robin Williams. Isn’t he funny?”  Hope said, “Yeah. He’s wild. But you know, Johnny, it’s great to be back here with you.”

“Let’s talk about me.” I smile at that. Even the great Bob Hope could not handle this situation.

No clear-thinking person would voluntarily follow Robin Williams on the program.

Sometimes we preachers find ourselves scheduled to speak on a big program.  Woe to the one who has to follow the most popular preacher in the land.

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10 things the inexperienced person does not know about speaking in public

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As one who has a great deal of respect for godly laymen and laywomen, I’m always glad when one rises in church to deliver a sermon or a testimony or a report. And since, as a retired pastor, I’m in a lot of churches throughout the year. So, I get to see a good bit of this. And sometimes….

Sometimes I want to applaud them. “Good job. Well done.” (In fact, I often say it to them following the service.)

But at other times, I want to shake them. “Pay attention to what you are doing! You can do better than this!”

I say this fully aware that we all had to start out somewhere, sometime, someway, and that no beginner came to the speaking craft full-grown. We crawl before we walk and do that before we run.

However–and this is what prompts this diatribe today–what gets my goat is when the lay speaker or preacher is mature in years and should know better and still makes glaring mistakes.

Here is my list of ten things the beginning (or rusty or occasional) speaker seems not to know, but needs to learn quickly in order to be effective.

1. How to begin your message.

First, how not to begin:

–“When they asked me to give my testimony this morning, my first thought was….”

–“I don’t know why they asked me to do this, but….”

–“When I told my wife the preacher had asked me to speak today, she said….”

Don’t do that.

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