What I Wish I Knew About Faithful Preaching as a Younger Pastor
What is faithful preaching? That’s a simple, first-year-of-seminary question that some grizzled professor would expect us to answer perfectly. However, there are various opinions on how to answer it. As a pastor myself and preacher for more than seventeen years, I find the task of defining faithful preaching more arduous than ever before. Perhaps that is because it is overly discussed but undervalued.
No matter your definition, we can agree that faithful preaching focuses on the careful, methodical, and comprehensive explanation and application of a particular passage of Scripture. This preaching hinges on the belief that the Bible is God’s Word and is, therefore, inherently authoritative, intelligible, and necessary for the spiritual nurture of God’s people.
As a younger pastor, I thought I knew what faithful preaching meant because I could explain all of that.
However, I was wrong—not wrong in definition, for I could give the textbook answer, but I was misguided in my understanding of the effect of faithful preaching. I didn’t understand that preaching in an faithful style was more than a definition of practice; it described a way of life.
Faithful preaching means much more than a verse-by-verse approach to preaching God’s Word. It takes on a depth and gravitas with every year spent in the trenches of pastoral ministry. We wrestle with God’s Word to properly wrestle with our people’s hearts.
After nearly two decades of serving as a pastor and preaching God’s Word, He has opened my eyes to the greater weight this carries. There are five truths about faithful preaching I wish I had known coming out of Bible college and seminary.
1. Faithful preaching creates space for God to be fully known
The preacher is simply a messenger of God. He should not receive the glory for this marvelous task. Instead, he must understand that he is doing something that should bring all glory to God. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are ambassadors for God.” We are speaking on His behalf; God is making His appeal through us. The Christian preacher is nothing more than a messenger, but he is to speak confidently on behalf of the “Lord of Armies” (Malachi 2:7).
2. Faithful preaching is difficult
Faithful preaching takes tremendous energy and attention to detail to preach through the whole counsel of God’s Word.
Faithful preaching is crucial for the health of the church. It means we feed our congregations a complete diet of God’s Word. It means we, as pastors, take a firm stand against cultural whims and the evil that carries many of them along. If we cannot stand with the totality of Scripture in a God-honoring way, then we are not faithful preachers of God’s Word.
Is this inconvenient? Yes, but Jesus told us the world would neither understand nor love His faithful followers (John 15:18–25).
3. Faithful preaching demands humility
Nowhere have I seen a greater mirror highlighting my brokenness and insufficiency without Christ than when preparing for faithful preaching. But it is a profound blessing to see how God’s Word illuminates my sin and shortcomings. It is a severe mercy but a gift no less meaningful than the oxygen filling my lungs.
The world needs pastors committed to faithful preaching—men whose lives have been so transformed by the study of Scripture that we cannot wait to preach it on Sunday. Faithful preaching is a gift to the Church and an offering of hope to a world in desperate need of redemption. As we preach the Word with love and humility, God Himself will work through it to bring transformation for His glory.
4. Faithful preaching is a philosophy of ministry
A hallmark of faithful preaching is the preacher’s diligent commitment to interpreting and conveying the text’s original intent. We must strive to connect the ancient text of Scripture to our contemporary audience in a relevant, Christ-honoring way. When done well, faithful preaching challenges listeners to pursue a deeper relationship with God. It is not merely a preaching style but a ministry philosophy. It is a commitment to believing that God speaks clearly and powerfully through His Word.
Far too many churches believe preaching any section of Scripture without the guardrails of its immediate context is acceptable. But I believe that is a slippery slope because the passages of choice are subject to the preacher’s discretion, not the Bible’s canonical structure. Do we trust our discretion as the sole determining factor of ministry focus? Or would we be far better off trusting the early Church fathers who walked with our Savior and conveyed God’s Word through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit?
5. Faithful preaching is the spiritual spine for fostering spiritual growth.
Faithfully preaching the Word of God in an faithful way reinforces the authority of the Bible. By explaining and applying the Scriptures to life, faithful preaching demonstrates that God’s truth, rather than human wisdom, is transformative. The focus is on what God has said and continues to say through His Word, not on the preacher or his wisdom (or his personality or charisma). This helps cultivate a church culture in which the congregants see the Bible as the final authority.
Faithful preaching also promotes biblical literacy among church members. There has never been a more biblically illiterate period in history than ours today. As church members see how a passage is interpreted within its context, believers learn to read, understand, and apply the Bible to their lives, thus maturing in faith.
The world’s greatest need is biblical preaching. Martin Lloyd Jones said, “The work of preaching is the highest and greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called.” Preaching well is hard work and requires deep study of the text. Yet, there is no higher calling than proclaiming God’s Word faithfully.
I wish I had known this about faithful preaching as a younger pastor. But I know it now, and I revel in the fact that I get to carry the weekly crucible of wrestling with God for my own sake and the hearts of those who call me “pastor.” What a glorious weight!
©2023 Josh Weidmann. Used with permission.
About The Author

Josh Weidmann
Josh Weidmann serves as the senior pastor of Grace Chapel in Denver, Colo., and is a certified biblical counselor with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. Josh publishes regularly at joshweidmann.com.