A good song is the melding of beautiful lyrics with an appropriate melody. We can have the most beautiful lyrics, but if they are trapped in an inappropriate melody, they will lose their luster and perhaps even communicate something that the lyrics do not intend. In the same way, the words/content of our sermon, no matter how beautiful they might be, if they are tainted by a tone that does not match, will also lose their luster and can even communicate something we do not intend.

As the Lord has continued to grow me in my ability to deliver his word to his people (hopefully I’m growing!), I have had to be shaped in various facets of my preaching. One facet that has become more significant in the last couple of years is my tone and posture.

This does not seem to be a very popular topic. Not because preachers do not think it is important, but, perhaps, simply because we might think there are far more pressing matters in the proclamation of God’s word. For this series of articles, I would like to suggest that the tone and posture of the preacher should be moved up the rung on the importance scale for anyone who stands in the place of Christ and speaks to his Bride.

When I speak of “tone and posture,” I am not just talking about volume or cadence or how one stands or walks around. It is the whole package of what a preacher communicates by all that he says and does in the pulpit. I will be offering some concrete examples throughout the series so that we can have some clarity on what we are and what we are not talking about.

There is so much that could be said (and needs to be said) to make a full argument that I find it overwhelming in just thinking about what to say. Our tone and posture are informed by what we think a sermon is, what we think Christ is like, what we think about how much of our personality can shine through, and seventy-five other variables. There will be no way to address every question or objection such that someone following these articles will fully agree with me. However, my goal is far more modest. My hope is that, by the end, we are all just a bit more cognizant of the manner our of preaching.

I am going to begin, in this first article, by nodding at the significance of this topic and then give a bit of my own journey. I will conclude by offering a definition of sorts that will hopefully help set us on the right trajectory.

A Nod at the Significance of Our Tone

I am assuming that the content in our sermons will be orthodox (Reformed even!). But good content can be spoiled by a tone that does not match. A good song is the melding of beautiful lyrics with an appropriate melody. We can have the most beautiful lyrics, but if they are trapped in an inappropriate melody, they will lose their luster and perhaps even communicate something that the lyrics do not intend.

In the same way, the words/content of our sermon, no matter how beautiful they might be, if they are tainted by a tone that does not match, will also lose their luster and can even communicate something we do not intend.

This is part of what Sinclair Ferguson is getting at in his great book, The Whole Christ, when he says, “In the nature of the case there is a kind of psychological tendency for Christians to associate the character of God with the character of the preaching they hear—not only the substance and content of it but the spirit and atmosphere it conveys” (p 72).

What is at stake in the tone and posture (spirit and atmosphere) of our preaching is nothing less than the character of the Lord himself. How we communicate will inform the congregation of what the Lord is like. I do not suspect that this is controversial (but there was this other time that I was wrong). This is what we tell husbands and fathers with regard to how they treat their families. How they communicate to their wife and children informs their families of what Jesus is like.

This right here should be enough to cause us to become more aware of the atmosphere we are creating by our tone and posture in our preaching. However, throughout the rest of the articles, the significance of what we are saying should become even more apparent and heightened.

A Bit of My Own Journey

As I have gone back and listened to some of my older sermons (something none of you are allowed to do), at times, I have wished that I could erase them. However, now I see them as good foils for a better direction. The content may have been fine, but sometimes I find myself asking, “Why did I say it that way?” There were times when I was speaking about the love and gentleness of Christ and saying it in a way that did not convey gentleness and loveliness. Sometimes I got excited about things in ways that made no sense. Sometimes I was intense in a way that seemed unnecessary in the moment.

My wife has had to relisten to some of my sermons for various reasons and she has pointed out how different my tone is today, even just comparing it to a couple of years ago. We make fun of me for a little bit and then praise God that some of my old habits are dying. This is a happy change and something I want to continue to develop. It does not seem that I have been harsh (which would of course be a problem), but my melody did not always match my lyrics.

Side note: My wife would like me to link a few of my old sermons so that you too could make fun of me, but as I said, you are not allowed to listen to them.

Let me highlight a few experiences that have caused me to be more aware of my tone.

Alistair Begg

My family and I had the opportunity to visit Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio, in January of 2024. It was the first time that I had been able to listen to a full sermon of Begg’s. One thing that struck me was how calm and comforting he was in the pulpit. Perhaps this is due to getting older (no offense), which always seems to bring more wisdom. From what I have seen from him, he has been far more animated in the pulpit, at times.

At this time in my place of preaching, I was becoming more aware of my own tendencies and posture during a sermon. I came away thinking, “I think I am a bit too intense/animated at times.” This was not the first time I had thought that I needed to refine my tone, but it made an impression.

For clarity, being animated is not always inappropriate. Appropriate animation is appropriate. Striving for that appropriateness is what we are talking about.

Spurgeon and McCheyne

A few months later, I was blessed by my church, with a three-month sabbatical. During that time, I read a ton. One of my favorite books was Alex DiPrima’s, Spurgeon, A Life. As I learned more about Spurgeon and his preaching, I became even more convinced of what the preacher’s posture ought to be toward the congregation.

DiPrima says, “Spurgeon believed that if preaching was to be faithful to God’s new covenant revelation of himself in his Son, the Lord Jesus, the redemptive events at the heart of the gospel must predominate over all else. Moreover, the preacher had a certain responsibility not only to proclaim Christ’s person and work, but to embody the heart and disposition of the Savior toward sinners in the preacher’s own character and bearing. Thus, he believed, Christ and his gospel were to condition both the matter and the manner of preaching” (p 161)

Sadly, this was not something new to me. I am so thick-headed that, while in seminary, I read A Passionate Plea for Preaching, where Ferguson speaks of Robert Murry McCheyne in the same vein. He tells the story of a letter sent to McCheyne, thanking him for what would be the last sermon he ever preached. McCheyne never read the letter, but the “grateful listener” said, “It was not so much what you said as the manner of your speaking.” Ferguson goes on to say that this is a “major key in reaching the heart in preaching” (p 114).

My hunch is that McCheyne’s manner was something similar to Spurgeon: he embodied the heart and disposition of Christ toward sinners in his tone and posture as he preached.

To embody the heart and disposition of Christ is quite overwhelming. In order to do this, we ourselves will need to become very acquainted with him and his heart. For the sake of our congregations, we must come to know him in such a way that we are able to “channel” him to his people.

This leads to the final and most significant experience that has caused me to be more aware of my manner in preaching.

My Own Preaching

One product of the innumerable hours in the Scripture, preparing sermons, is that I have been shaped by my own encounter with Christ. In 2017, I began preaching through the book of Luke. Little did I know how much I would grow in my understanding of Christ and his posture toward his people. I have found that the Lord is far kinder and gentler than I ever could have expected.

Since then, other books I have preached, along with my reading outside the Bible, have further confirmed and enhanced my understanding of the heart of Christ. I have nowhere near arrived at grasping this fully. I still see dimly, but I do know that however kind and gentle I think he is, he is infinitely more than I have yet considered.

As I have come to understand this more, my goal has been to channel his heart to his people every time I stand in the pulpit (or anywhere else for that matter).

At this point, it should be clear that I am not arguing for anyone to copy my tone. There will be differences in our personalities, to some extent. The goal is to channel the tone and posture of Christ. I want to give them more of his heart, not mine. And the more I come to know him, the better equipped I will be to communicate his heart through all of who I am. Therefore, in order to grow in my ability to deliver God’s word to his people, I must continue to pursue knowing and understanding the heart of Christ for his Bride.

Setting the Trajectory

To conclude this first article, which is barely scratching the surface on this discussion, I am going to share two more quotes that will hopefully help set the trajectory for us. The whole of the first quote is worthy of our consideration, but I will only highlight two words. My guess is that what is said here could hit pretty close to home for some of us and be quite challenging.

“Here we could enter at length into a discussion of pastoral manners of speech, for example of that terrible habit we have with our voices of ‘changing gear’ as soon as God calls on us to transmit his word to men. This way of trying to ‘transubstantiate’ our speech, in order to make it worthy of the Lord, both falsifies us and compromises the word of God. Though good diction is certainly necessary, our vocal schooling should be rather that of the popular singer than of the operatic artist. [The Greek term from which we get the word ‘homiletic’], does not mean to shout oneself hoarse, nor to take on an unctuous tone, nor to be hypnotized by a concern for eloquence, but to speak in the tone of ordinary conversation. When the Reformers required that services should be conducted ‘in the vulgar tongue,’ they also had this in mind.” (Jean-Jacques von Allmen, p 14).

Many will recognize that part of what von Allmen is addressing is what some refer to as the “preacher voice.” The preacher voice is when the man stands up to preach and takes on a whole new persona and voice. He speaks in a way that is far different from how he might speak at the dinner table with his family. Instead, I think von Allmen is right to argue for “ordinary conversation.” Imagine yourself sitting at lunch with someone and speaking to them about the passage before you. What would you say and how would you say it over a meal?

The second quote comes from Michael Reeves, who says of Spurgeon, “Preaching in Christ’s stead means they must not bully, but, like Christ, [preachers] must ‘tenderly persuade’” (p 78).

There it is. When we speak to the Bride of Christ, we are to tenderly persuade her toward him. We will return to this again and again.

Putting these together, perhaps we could define our goal in this way: as we speak to the Lord’s people, seeking to channel the heart of Christ to them, let us tenderly persuade with ordinary conversation.

Conclusion

This is just the very beginning. While our focus has been on our tone, and not so much our substance, the two are deeply intertwined. The substance plays a major role in informing our tone and posture. While our speech might need to be ordinary, our substance is nothing less than extraordinary. What we tenderly persuade the Bride with is nothing less than the greatest thing we can say. However, we will have to wait for the next articles to discuss that.

Brent Horan is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is Senior Pastor of First Reformed PCA in Penn Hills, Penn.