“And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear” (Philippians 1:14). As a preacher, I have the responsibility and the pleasure of speaking publicly the Word of God on a regular basis. It is what I have been trained to do and the area of my greatest proficiency, since it is the core of my scripturally defined work. Despite the fact that I speak often, there are few times that I “mount the pulpit” when I lack at least some sense of anxiety or what you might call fear. I am not alone here either. We have so many capable men who are great students of God’s Word, but they too have the same fear and trepidation. Perhaps you have experienced such as well. Oh! You may never deliver a sermon in front of a large audience, but we are all called to speak openly about the Scripture, engage in Bible study and win many for Christ. Thus, we are all susceptible to this fear.
When examined closely, however, what we will find, from the preacher’s sermon to the individual Bible study effort, is that most of this fear revolves around who we are and our ability to deliver the message. Typically, there are two errors that play into this fear. First, we often labor under the impression that we are being judged actively by the words that we speak. Second, we believe the subject of the talk is us, or to put it another way, the focus is on us rather than on the subject matter. Neither of these is true.
It should help us overcome our fear to know that the words that we speak are not our own, if indeed they are God’s. If we have studied and can claim, like Christ, that the words we speak are not our own, but from the Father, then fear should dissipate. Furthermore, when we deliver a lesson, we ought to give the benefit of the doubt to the audience and assume that they are more interested in the content rather than our performance. Hence, our auditors will not judge us but the message itself. Even if we believe they are seeking some entertainment value, it does us little good to assume such. You are not an entertainer, but a herald of truth—a truth that should cast out fear and empower because it is God’s truth.
Thus, be bold. Be strong. Fear not. Seek and proclaim truth always without fear and trepidation. If it is of God, then it is not about you and to criticize the message is to criticize Him, not you. Fear not, and, as we used to say, “Preach it, brother!”
