Athletes know all about playing hurt. For preachers, it’s preaching hurt — preaching in pain. Preach for any length of time and you’ll face the challenge of preaching in pain. It’s one of the unavoidable tests of a preacher’s heart.
Sunday comes each week whether we are ready or not; whether we are reeling or not. Sometimes the pain we carry may be physical — an illness that impacts the body. More often it will be emotional — affliction that affects the soul. The pain may result from a Sunday morning blow-up at home with a spouse or teenager. Or from seeing a disgruntled church leader, sitting with a scowl and crossed arms as we stand to preach. The pain may come from recent sins that, in spite of being confessed to God, still leave us feeling like pastoral imposters and spiritual poseurs. Pain can come from the cumulative weight we carry as we shepherd people through severe trials.
In spite of the aching in our souls, when the final song of the worship set finishes, we are expected to stand and deliver. We make our way to the front with an unseen limp, feeling numb, flatlined, or defeated before we even begin. We silently cry out to God for help. We pray that God would make his strength perfect in our weakness. Then we try to preach in pain.
Lessons from Paul on Preaching in Pain
As I reflect on my years of preaching, I still carry some scorched memories of several Sundays when I wasn’t sure I would be able to make it through the message. As the opening songs launched the service, I was physically present but emotionally absent. I was vaguely aware of voices around me singing praise to God as I silently voiced my own pain to God. Though preaching has been one of the great joys of my life, on those Sundays, preaching was the last thing I felt like doing. Empty and aching, I called out to God for mercy and help.
The apostle Paul was no stranger to preaching in pain. When he wrote to the church in Corinth, he reminded them of that reality: “And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3, ESV). He expressed a similar thought in his letter to the Thessalonians: “But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict” (1 Thessalonians 2:2). In both Corinth and Thessalonica — in spite of the pain he was living with — Paul opened his heart and mouth to proclaim God’s message. Clearly, Paul knew how to preach hurt.
As I hear Paul’s candid testimony, I long to be able to ask him some questions. How did you do it? What kept you from giving up or calling it quits? Did you ever feel disingenuous talking to others about God’s goodness and grace when life and ministry were excruciatingly difficult? How did you quiet the inner turmoil in your own soul enough to concentrate on ministering to the souls of others?
While we can’t converse with Paul, we can discern his answers to these questions by taking a closer look at his words in both 1 Corinthians 2 and 1 Thessalonians 2. In these two chapters, we learn at least four important lessons about preaching in pain.
1. Preaching in Pain is Part of Faithful Gospel Ministry
Paul didn’t see personal pain as a reason to cease and desist from proclaiming God’s truth. Carrying the scars of a recent beating in Philippi (Acts 16:22) and facing stiff opposition in Thessalonica, he still had the boldness to proclaim the gospel in the local synagogue (Acts 17:2).
From Paul’s example we learn that a faithful preaching ministry will, at times, call for a determined, daring spirit that speaks in spite of personal pain. At those moments, our preaching becomes an act of defiance against the darkness. Though sorrow may hang overcast in our hearts, we continue to proclaim the truth that the sun is shining above the clouds. In these moments, we join Paul in become daring preachers who don’t play it safe or run for cover when ministry gets painful.
So on those Sundays when pain obscures the joy of preaching God’s Word, we endure hardship and soldier on (2 Timothy 2:3–4). We report for duty even when we aren’t as healthy or happy as we’d like to be. We preach God’s Word, in season and out of season, on good days and hard days.
2. Preaching in Pain Involves Speaking in Spite of Turbulent Emotions
As Paul arrived in Corinth, he came “in weakness and in fear and much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3). But in spite of turbulent emotions that left him feeling rattled, he still proclaimed “the testimony of God” (2:1). While he was aware of his feelings, he wasn’t silenced by them.
Paul’s candid comments provide a helpful reminder that we can preach even when our inner world is not placid and peaceful. The internal turbulence caused by weakness, fear, and trembling do not disqualify us as preachers. Faithfulness in preaching sometimes involves preaching when we are badly shaken. While we may not be able to publicly explain our pain, we can publicly proclaim God’s truth.
Mature preachers don’t ignore or deny their emotions. Instead, they pour out their hearts to God in private (Psalm 62:8) and proclaim his Word in public (1 Corinthians 2:1). While they may openly acknowledge something of their weakness and need for God’s enabling grace, they don’t focus attention on themselves; rather, they point people to Christ. They follow Paul’s lead and resolve “to know nothing … except Jesus Christ” (2:2).
3. Preaching in Pain Is Not an Excuse for Sinful Attitudes or Actions
As I read Paul’s reflection on his preaching ministry, I’m struck by how he maintained his spiritual integrity even when mistreated in ministry. He didn’t allow painful experiences to become an excuse for sinful attitudes or actions.
He examined his motives and his message to make sure his preaching was not fueled by “error or impurity or any attempt to deceive” (1 Thessalonians 2:3). Paul understood the difference between preaching in distress and preaching in disguise. Though he was still banged up from the abuse he’d received in Philippi and surely would have welcomed some encouraging words, he still didn’t look for praise from his hearers (2:4). Instead, he proclaimed God’s truth with integrity, seeking to please the One who “tests our hearts.”
Here is an important reminder for all of us who preach, especially when life and ministry are painful. The mistreatment we experience must not be allowed to muddy our motives or pollute our message. We can’t allow bitterness over past hurts to color our present sermons. We must not let pain prompt us to change God’s message for our own gain (2:5) or glory (2:6). We must stay mindful of the truth that God is the One who examines our work. We will make it our first priority to live and preach for his approval. While life may not be going well, we will seek to make sure it is well with our souls.
4. Preaching in Pain Makes Us Lean Harder on the Power of God
Paul’s example, though inspiring on one level, can be deflating on another. Spiritually sensitive preachers who know their own sinful hearts can read Paul’s testimony and respond by piling more pain on their own souls. We can beat ourselves up for responding poorly when we were beaten up in ministry. We can readily recall times we allowed ministry wounds to fester in our hearts and infect our sermons. We are painfully aware that responding well to painful circumstances doesn’t come easily or automatically.
The same was true for Paul. While we may think Paul handled mistreatment effortlessly, a close reading of his words dispels that illusion. Paul points the Thessalonians to the source of his strength in times of great weakness: “we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict” (2:2). The strength to be bold when he was banged up came from God, not from within himself.
Paul told the Corinthian Christians the same thing. When preaching in “weakness and in fear and much trembling,” he relied on the “demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:3–5).
Preaching in pain has a purpose — both in the life of the preacher and the hearers. Pain has a way of driving us as preachers to a greater dependence on God’s Spirit. We become more realistic about ourselves and more reliant on God’s power. Pain also has a beneficial effect on our hearers. They see a living demonstration of the truth that faith must rest on God rather than his messengers (2:5).
So on Sundays when we don’t feel like preaching because we’re in pain — when we feel empty and broken — we can actually do some of our best work as preachers. That’s because we will be more conscious of our need of God’s grace and more dependent on his Spirit’s power. And when God chooses to work through our weakness, we will be less apt to embezzle his glory. Like Paul, we come to understand in a very personal way that “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).
Adapted from Rick Reed’s book, The Heart of the Preacher: Preparing Your Soul to Proclaim God’s Word (Lexham Press). The Heart of the Preacher addresses fifteen heart-tests preachers and teachers will face (such as insecurity, ambition, fear, stagnating, criticism, pain). It also presents ten practices preachers and teachers can utilize to strengthen their hearts for these tests.
Rick Reed has pastored churches in the United States and in Canada.He also served as the president of Heritage College and Seminary in Cambridge, Ontario.Rick and his wife Linda provide ministry resources at rickandlindareed.com.
