What John Mayer Taught Me About Preaching
What John Mayer Taught Me About Preaching:
Ever caught yourself slipping into someone else's preaching style? That moment when you realize you're channeling T.D. Jakes or Andy Stanley instead of being yourself can be both embarrassing and eye-opening.
Ever caught yourself slipping into someone else's preaching style? That moment when you realize you're channeling T.D. Jakes or Andy Stanley instead of being yourself can be both embarrassing and eye-opening.
As musician John Mayer wisely observed, "You find your voice when you try to be like other people and fail." This podcast explores that journey toward authentic preaching—the liberating realization that God doesn't need you to be a carbon copy of your ministry heroes. He needs your unique voice.
I share my own humiliating experience of trying to imitate a passionate televangelist while teaching a college Sunday school class, watching terror spread across students' faces as I performed someone else's style. That painful lesson taught me something profound: God doesn't anoint impersonation; He anoints authenticity.
Ready to break free from imitation and find your authentic voice? Download our free preaching resources at speakonpurposepodcast.com and join our community of pastors committed to delivering better sermons.
Visit our website speakonpurposepodcast.com
The best preachers and teachers that I have known have their own voice. They're not great impersonators of other great preachers. They have a voice that they alone were gifted with. But let's be honest, most of us as preachers, especially in the early days of ministry, had dreams of who we wanted to sound like Maybe Billy Graham, td Jakes, andy Stanley or someone you really admired in your ministry. Here's the good news you don't have to sound like your favorite preacher. God called you with your story and your style and your voice. In today's episode, we're looking at three simple ways to preach with your own voice. Hey, it's great to have you back for another episode of the Speak On Purpose podcast, where our mission is to help pastors deliver better sermons. If you're new to our community, be sure to check out our website at speakonpurposepodcast. com.
Bryan:
One of my favorite quotes on this actually comes from musician John Mayer. He said you find your voice when you try to be like other people and fail, and I thought, wow, that's true, because the more we imitate others, the more we lose the very thing that makes us unique. Well, I learned this the hard way. Years ago, I was teaching a Sunday school class, one of the first times I had ever talked and I had been watching an evangelist on TV that week and he was so passionate and so loud. I'm thinking that's what I've got to do, I've got to be excited. And so, as I'm teaching and this is a class of college and career okay, students, I just start preaching. You know, god said this, you need to do this. And I'm just in their face and I could see that they were terrified and I became so embarrassed because it was not who I was. That's not me at all. And I learned really quick that God doesn't anoint impersonation, he anoints authenticity. Think about it Paul didn't preach like Peter, james didn't sound like John, and God used every single one of them in powerful ways.
Bryan:
So here are three quick ways to preach with your own voice. Number one preach from your own life. Tell your story. Don't borrow someone else's passion. Preach what you believe and what you have lived is passion. Preach what you believe and what you have lived. I promise your story is compelling when you tell it.
Bryan:
Number two use your natural tone. If you're conversational, be conversational. If you're intense, be intense, but be honest about it. No preacher voice. If necessary, okay, keep it you. Number three be faithful, not flashy. You don't have to be loud to be powerful. You don't have to be funny to be effective, but I do believe humor can be very powerful if we learn how to use it. The bottom line is this God didn't call you to be a copy of someone else. He called you to be a one-of-a-kind voice for his truth, and when you lean into that, you'll preach with more power. I promise more connection, more freedom than you ever thought possible. It can be liberating when you understand who God called you to be. Thank you so much for listening today. Be sure to visit our website, speakonpurposepodcastcom, join the email list and there's some free preaching resources you can download today. Make sure you do that and we'll see you next time on the Speak On Purpose podcast, where we believe we can help pastors deliver better sermons.
