There’s a “radical difference” between a message being about God and being from God, Jim Shaddix said.
“Make sure your goal in communication is to glorify God alone,” he told the more than 300 pastors and church staff present at the 2012 Called to Communicate conference.
The event, sponsored by the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), focused on helping pastors take their preaching, speaking and teaching to the next level of effectiveness.
Those present at the Nov. 1 conference at Heritage Baptist Church, Montgomery, heard challenges from Shaddix, pastor of teaching and training at The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, and Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans, and president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
Shaddix, who also serves as professor of preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., led the morning session and focused on the topic of “Preaching with Power.” He was quick to remind participants how easy it is to turn the focus away from the gospel and toward the pastor. In some extreme cases the pastors become almost “rock stars,” he said, and the message gets lost.
Shaddix also noted how tempting it is for a pastor to fill his message with unimportant things. “The passion of our lives must be biblical exposition,” he said.
Luter told pastors they must be prepared as messengers. “We need more preachers, more pastors who have a healthy fear of God,” he said.
Luter said pastors can easily get caught up in the business of the church and neglect to spend time in prayer and preparation. “My vertical relationship to God affects my horizontal relationship to man,” he said.
Foundational to communicating effectively, Luter said, is to remember that being a pastor is not just a job. “Preaching is a calling, not a career,” he said.
Luter also spoke about his role as president of the SBC and the challenges that have been borne out of his new responsibilities.
He said the experience has reminded him of the high priority his family should have. “Pastors, your families come before your church,” he said, to a chorus of amens throughout the room.
After the conference, Bradley Rushing, pastor of Mount Gilead Baptist Church, Dothan, posted on Twitter, “Enjoyed sitting under the teaching of Jim Shaddix and Fred Luter. Two men of God with wisdom gained through years of faithful service.”
Mike Jackson, director of the SBOM office of leadership and church health, which facilitated the event, said he was pleased with the conference and the quality of the presentations.
“We’re delighted that Fred and Jim could be with us for the day and grateful for the information and inspiration these two servant leaders provided,” he said.
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