The pastor stands in the pulpit, clears his throat, and waits for the undivided attention of the congregation. His silence signals the membership that something big is up, that what the preacher is about to say will be long remembered.

He begins, “As most of you know, the local school board has decided that Gideons International will no longer be allowed to distribute New Testaments to the children in this district. This greatly concerns me. I will admit that I am angrier than I have been in a long time.”

Seated in his congregation are three of the six members of the local school board. As the preacher continues, they can feel all eyes turned in their direction. They become fidgety and wish the pastor would “just preach the Bible.”

In another community, the pastor announces his opposition to the United Way budget which devotes a portion of its income to the local Planned Parenthood office. A few miles up the interstate, the pastor is wrestling with whether to speak out on corruption inside the police force.

These are major decisions leaders of the Lord’s churches must make. The stakes are high, the issues are important, and the ramifications may be severe. Going public on controversial matters can make or break a pastor’s ministry in a church.

Here are questions to ask, pastor, before you take a public stand on an issue that is facing your community.

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“Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” (I Kings 17:24).

I think it was Freud who said no one has ever answered the question “what does a woman want?”

What does a pastor want? I mean, other than a little appreciation, a day off without the phone ringing, and a staff made up of faithful ministers.

As much as anything ever, your pastor longs–has a deep burning desire–for people to acknowledge that he is a man of God and that when he stands to preach, the message is from God and is truth.

That’s what the widow of Zarephath testified concerning Elijah. Most of us would say, that’s as good as it gets.

This happened during a time of great apostasy in Israel and along with it, a devastating drought. For a time, God had the ravens feed Elijah–the man on the spot, hunted relentlessly by King Ahab–and the brook Cherith to supply him with drink. When the brook dried up, God sent His man to the area of Sidon (present day Lebanon) where a widow would provide for him.

The problem is God had not bothered to tell the widow.

Elijah arrived to discover this poor lady was at her wit’s end. She was outside in the yard gathering sticks for a last fire over which she would bake the last flour in her humble house. The plan, she told the prophet, was to “eat it and die.”

And this was the woman scheduled to provide for Elijah? God does have His unique ways, doesn’t He?

The story, which you may read and enjoy for yourself, is found here in the 17th chapter of I Kings. Elijah asked her to bake him some of the bread first, then provide for herself and her son. She did as he instructed, and thus saw God’s hand at work in providing for her family’s needs throughout the famine.

At a later time–we’re not given a time frame–the woman’s son became seriously ill and seems to have died. Elijah heard about it and came to her house. We’re puzzled by the woman’s attitude (v. 18), but the prophet ignored her complaints and went to work.

Soon, in answer to his prayer, Elijah presented the child back to his mother, alive and well.

That’s when she made that magnificent statement, affirming that Elijah was indeed a man of God and that his word was God’s word and thus was truth.

How can the congregation know this about the pastor?

Here are the principles–the answer–found in the Elijah story.

1) To know you are a man of God, pastor, people need to see your faith.

It was one thing for Elijah to make grand pronouncements about the God-ordained drought  (see James 5:17-18), but when he experienced the hardship along with the rest of the population and did so in obedience to God, he made his point.

2) To know you are a man of God, people need to know your word is true.

“The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah” (I Kings 17:16).

When your word lines up with the word of God, you will win the respect of the godly crowd.

3) To know you are a man of God, people need to see your calm spirit.

When the woman accosted the prophet, demanding answers in a harsh tone, Elijah did not panic. He did not try to calm her or put her in her place or teach her a thing or two about faith. He knew what the woman needed was not arguments but action. She needed to see her child living.

4) To know you are a man of God, people need to know you are a man of prayer.

In the upper room, the prophet laid out the child and lifted up his voice to the Heavens: “O Lord my God, I pray Thee, let this child’s life return to him.” (17:21)

No congregation knows at first glance whether the new minister is solid and godly, but in time, as they behold the strength of his faith, the purity of his word, the sweetness of his spirit, and the force of his prayers, they will know.

A wise minister will not pull rank and insist on being respected because after all, “I am the God-sent shepherd.” He will give the flock time to learn him and know that he is trustworthy.

When they come to this conclusion, the minister has a great foundation from which to do a wonderful work for God.

Such a confidence from the congregation, pastor, is not a gift of their graciousness; it is an admission of the presence and power of God in your life. And it’s a wonderful thing.

My pastor friend was about to conduct the most difficult funeral of his nearly-20 year ministry. He and I had discussed it and I had prayed for him. His heart was breaking for the young family that was laying to rest two close loved ones.

In a private moment, I said to him, “Pastor to pastor, I want to ask you something. Even though this is tearing your heart out, do you find yourself thinking, ‘I’d rather be here doing this than anywhere else in the world’?”

He said, “I do! I really do.”

I said, “That’s how you know you are really called to this work.”

He was quiet a moment, then added, “I tell my wife–pastors’ wives understand these things–that my favorite part of pastoring, what I do best, is the funeral of a Christian. It’s hard, it can be gut-wrenching, but this is our moment to shine, the event which brings together all the great stuff we believe so strongly.”

God-called pastors understand.

I have stood at the graveside of a two-year-old who had fought a valiant fight against leukemia, my heart almost as torn as the parents’, and thought, “Thank you, dear Lord, for calling me into this work. I’d rather be here than anyplace else on earth.”

Only the called will understand.

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In the absence of a union of Pew-Sitting Sermon-Hearing Church Goers (PSSHCG) to let pastors know how the congregation is receiving their sermons, we are hereby taking it upon ourselves to act on their behalf.

There being no PSSHCG union, sermon listeners usually resort to anonymous letters, hurried conferences in the foyer before and after worship, and murmuring in order to express their opinion of the preaching in their church. Such protests are frowned upon by pastors (with good reason), but with no acceptable way of registering their concern, sermon-listeners often have no other recourse but the anonymous letter, the quick foyer conference, or murmuring.

Until such a time as this group forms their PSSHCG union, we will (ahem) be glad to speak for them.

As the Apostle Paul once said, “I speak as a fool” (II Corinthians 11:21).

For what it’s worth, what follows are the Ten Commandments of Preaching as felt by the men and women in the pews.

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Often on Sunday morning, I’ll post something on Facebook to encourage pastors. I particularly love to encourage the ones who may be preaching to members of their congregation who despise them and are working to remove them from the pulpit.

I’ve been there, done that, in two churches. It’s a lonely feeling, one you would not wish on your enemy.

Today my little note encouraged pastors to remember why the message of Jesus is called “good news,” and to preach that.

That word was so elementary, such a no-brainer, that one might wonder why we said it or why it got such a large response from readers (aka, Facebook friends, many of whom are preachers).

Here’s why: We pastors sometimes feed our people fiber instead of protein, filler instead of nourishment. I suspect it’s not a conscious decision (“I will now cut corners on my preaching”), but something that develops as a result of neglect, fatigue, or discouragement.

Someone needs to recognize that this is happening and call us back to our God-given task of preaching the gospel. Again, you would think this would be a no-brainer. But I cannot tell you how many times pastors have told me they model their preaching after an Elijah or Jeremiah or Amos. One said his role model was John the Baptist. Personally, I don’t see it. We are called to proclaim the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16), and not to address every sinful failing of Washington, D.C. or whoever happens to be the current occupant of the White house.

Having pastored for over 42 years, and having preached the message of the Lord for exactly a half-century, I am well aware of those substitutes for the gospel that have a way of creeping into our messages. Here are several I’ve seen in myself and noticed in you. (Consider that a friendly wink at the pastors who read this.)

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