Many preachers who desire to “contend for the faith” (Jude 3) and recognize our responsibility to “rebuke those who contradict” with sound doctrine (Titus 1:9) will adopt a defensive posture in the pulpit. While these are crucial aspects of our role, our preaching should not be characterized by an argumentative demeanor or confrontational rhetoric. And beyond our posture and tone, we must also be careful that our messages don’t focus on unnecessary issues of debate and controversy.

Note: This article is part of the Dear Pastor series.

Dear Pastor,

In seeking to be good stewards of God’s truth and his church, we must be mindful of the common pitfalls that can undermine our efforts to lead well. This begins by recognizing that sensible leadership from the pulpit is defined as much by what it avoids as what it includes. Practically speaking, this means that we must be diligent to avoid preaching landmines that can sabotage our ministry leadership and leave God’s people dazed, confused, angry, or hurt. Sensible leadership recognizes how to identify and navigate these dangerous preaching hazards and avoid common contemporary pitfalls. Overall, there are three particular danger zones that we should make an intentional effort to evade.

One of the main ways we can exercise sensible leadership from the pulpit is to avoid public arguments. While this may seem obvious, it’s actually one of the easiest and most common ways we detour into threatening territory in our preaching. Perhaps this is most apparent by how Paul continually addresses our propensity as pastors to be distracted from our primary role as preachers and cautions us against being lured into disagreements and disputes that we should avoid.

While repeatedly outlining for Timothy and Titus what to teach in the pastoral epistles, Paul also repeatedly outlines specific things to “stay away” from or “shun.” Other than steering clear of certain types of people (2 Tim. 3:5), Timothy should also “avoid” things related to the content of his public instruction and personal interaction (1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 2:16; Titus 3:2, 9).

First, in both of his letters to Timothy, Paul specifically cautions him to “avoid irreverent babble” (1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 2:16). In our previous section regarding stewardship of the pulpit, we briefly mentioned his first admonition to avoid “pointless discussions” and “unholy chatter” in order to guard the truth of the gospel (1 Tim. 6:20). Interestingly, Paul’s parallel warning in his second letter to Timothy immediately follows his command regarding diligence in studying and dedicating himself to “rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). The sequence directly contrasts his handling of God’s word with the “irreverent babble” he’s called to “avoid” (2 Tim. 2:16). Perhaps most significantly, he cautions Timothy that his failure to do so “will lead people into more and more ungodliness” (2 Tim. 2:16). In other words, avoiding these things and focusing on God’s word determines the direction and effectiveness of a pastor’s leadership from the pulpit.

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