“Become the sermon,” said the wise old sage of preaching to his zealous student, “Allow the message to become as natural to you as breathing. Don’t try to breath through someone else’s lungs and vibrate someone else’s vocal cords. Use your own.”
There is great wisdom in these words. However, finding the courage to live them out in the pulpit can seem impossible. For years I’ve been preaching and striving to “Be myself” or “Find my voice.” Just when I believe I’ve found it, I easily lose it again. Searching for years for your own voice can be a chore. It requires being content with the way God made you, but not overly confident that you are God’s greatest gift to the world. You must have a perfect balance of self-acceptance and Christ-centered humility in order to be the preach God wants you to be – and not the preacher God wants someone else to be.
I’ll admit, right when I think I’ve found that balance, I hear the next great up and coming preacher – or the preacher of old who grabbed my attention again – and I suddenly find myself trying to be him. Foolish, I know, but a frequent failure.
I believe the problem is not finding your voice, but accepting it. In my most truthful (and somewhat terrifying) moment, I can recount for you exactly who I am and give you a detailed description of the strength and weakness of my tone in the pulpit. Finding the voice that God has given me – from my pitch to my unique past – is not that difficult. The hard part is accepting who I am as the person that God has made me to be – and called me to live out. He promised to be with me, so who I am is only a minor detail in the whole scheme of things.
