Preachers, don’t tell anyone to do what you’re not prepared to do

There is an old saying: practice what you preach. It doesn’t only apply to preachers, of course! The message is that you should live a consistent life. If you say something is important, you need to live it out yourself.

Nowhere is this more important than in churches. Preaching and Bible teaching of various forms requires direct instruction. People are always being told to pray more, to be obedient in specific ways, and to tell others about Jesus. There is nothing wrong with preachers and Bible teachers giving these kinds of instructions! They are in the Bible, and they must be taught. If we never need to change anything in our lives, we are saying that we are perfect and don’t need to repent of some things and start doing more godly things.

We must remember that being someone who teaches the Bible means we are judged more harshly. If you have the privilege of teaching the Bible to other people, they should not only be able to understand your instructions and try to live them out, they should be able to see you as an example of how to do these things.

After all, Paul says (rather uncomfortably for us) that his listeners should follow his example as he follows Christ. He says variations on this several times in his letters. Paul thinks that if you lived with him, and you watched his life closely, you would notice that he really believes what he is teaching. He is practicing what he is preaching.

This has a range of applications for preachers and Bible teachers, so let me point out a few:

1. You must put effort not only into teaching but into your life. All preachers are Christians first, who then have a role to teach the Bible. Sure, we are all imperfect in all kinds of ways! But we need to be reading the Bible for ourselves, praying, and working on our faith as a foundation.
2. You must never tell people to do something you are not prepared to do. If you tell people to tell others about Jesus, you need to do it yourself. Don’t be a hypocrite. People should be able to come to you and ask how you are going with these things, and you should be able to tell them.
3. You must apply any Bible teaching to yourself before preaching it. Think through what the text says to you personally. Pray about it, consider how to respond to this, and try to live it out. You will learn things that will then inform how you teach others.

We must be consistent, examples and teachers. Teaching without being an example is hollow and hypocritical.