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Preaching is a perilous enterprise. It is fraught with unexpected hazards. The very nature of its work, i.e. God speaking through humankind, makes its dangers particularly risky and its mishaps fatal.

The need for emotion

There are many things one should avoid in preaching. A list of them could easily overwhelm. And yet, there is an essential ingredient that must mark our preaching. That ingredient, in a word, is emotion. The conviction that the preacher actually and obviously believes what he preaches should not only be heard, but also felt by his listeners. I wonder what you think when you consider the nexus of emotion and proclamation. Responses vary from exclusion because of its manipulation to embrace because of its effectiveness. The latter is where this article focuses our attention.

Understanding and affection

I submit that the most effective preaching happens in the communication of right understanding of the text and right affection for the God of the text. When these two meet the outcome is powerful.

Aristotle posited that public persuasive speech involves the triangular interaction of ethos, pathos, and logos. In the proper use of ethos we establish credibility with our hearers. In the skillful use of logos we convince with reason and rationale; and in pathos we involve the seat of our emotions. These three, Aristotle contended, combine to make persuasive speech. From a cursory glance, one can sense the interaction of these even in the unassisted, unlearned pleas of children. My five-year-old son is proving his ability to persuade effectively. Often his reasons, though legitimate, are not what move me. His pathos does. I can tell when he really believes what he says or actually yearns for what he asks. My assumption is that those who listen to our preaching can too.

Guarding against misuse

How can we guard against the misuse of pathos and emotion in our preaching? For its historical value, Aristotle helped us to understand the need for emotion in persuasive communication; but for its moral value he does not equip us against its manipulation. We find in the words of Jesus a better, basic instruction that ought guide our work of preaching as an offering of worship.

In Jesus' John 4 conversation with the woman at the well, he says that true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. One preposition in verse 23 applies to both truth and spirit. These are not two separate entities per se. They go together. On a rudimentary level, we can hear Jesus' appeal for the intersection of both right understanding—truth—and the fullness of supernatural new life—spirit.

Abounding fullness of life

There is an abounding fullness of life that ought to accompany truth. As an overflow of my walk with Jesus Christ, emotion inevitably makes its way into my proclamation. While preaching, I can sense the glee of the truth rejoicing my heart. As a personal note, this happens even when the subject of the message convicts and chastens me. I hope you can sense the passive action of my acknowledgement. Often I am not rejoicing myself, but my heart is being rejoiced. This is very Biblical language by the way. I do not mean optimism. That is naïve. And pessimism in contrast may be atheistic. What I sense is as that the river flow of the message is washing my heart as it flows through me. And as this happens I don't restrain the emotion in my preaching.

Several weeks ago, while preaching 1 Kings 17 and talking through the power of God to produce flour and oil in the Widow of Zeraphath’s cruise and jar, the joyful recollection of God’s miraculous power to provide for those who trust him overwhelmed me. In the sermon, I did my best to describe what the widow must have felt knowing she was preparing her last meal for the prophet to consume. Yet before she could exhaust the flour and oil on the prophet, she found more for herself and her son. I told the church that, “God kept on making a way for the widow;” that he has a track record of making ways for those who rely upon him. Then I ran a short list of the instances in Scripture were God met people at their last and demonstrated that his power creates a surplus. Thinking of his goodness in the Biblical record caused me to recall an upward spiral of instances in my life where God had done the same. I simply shared with the church that my soul got happy while preaching. In my own way, I invited the congregation to verbally, and vocally praise God if he had done the same for them. In this way, the church is not watching the preacher burn, but they get to enjoy the fire as well.

There are various ways in which emotion is conveyed in preaching. Some preachers hit the ground running with emotion. Others are tame and save the emotive aspects for moments of anticipated response. I tend to think that the Spirit of God runs command central for preaching. There is no special time to be emotive in preaching. As a general rule, I like to ride the wind of the Spirit of God as he moves. To broaden the scope, not all emotion is pleasurable in preaching. Some of the prophets preached under duress. The stress of their emotive proclamation was not joyful. But it was emotive nonetheless. We can safely say that no preaching should be altogether void of emotion.

I am likely unequipped to discern for you when emotion transitions from following the Spirit of God into human manipulation. What I can say is that if in the preaching moment you depend upon God, you will be able to tell the genuine from the contrived. Those who listen to us preach need know that we ourselves are taken by the message. Recently, a member at our church commented that they could sense a thread of authenticity in my preaching. He picked up on it, he said, as I preached about sin. Try that for encouragement!

Let me encourage you to engage the tension of both the sound teaching of the Bible and honest affection for the God of the Bible. Let not your emotion take the spotlight from the truth proclaimed. Rather allow the truth to inspire your emotion. Enjoy the preaching moment. And let it show when you do.

Charlie Dates is the senior pastor at the historic Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois.