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1%: I typically sit on a stool or chair to preach.

11.6%: I rarely stand behind a podium or lectern.

15.9%: I typically do not stand behind a podium or lectern.

39.5%: I stand behind a podium or lectern roughly 90% of the time.

            Whether you stand behind a podium with your hands holding on to the pulpit, walk around the stage, or sit in a chair, do your best. Whether you use PowerPoint, Prezi, Haiku Deck, or none of the above, do your best. Whether your sermons are all expository, textual, topical, or a combination of these, do your best. Whether your tone is more conversational or didactic, do your best. Why should we do our best? It is not so that everyone will like us.

            It is not so we can become more famous. It is not so we will be invited to speak on big-time lectureship programs or make more money. We want to do our best because we want to be approved by God, we want to handle correctly the Word of God, and so that lives will be changed. Our dear brother Paul made this clear. “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). As you know, this passage is also translated as “Study to show yourself approved…”

            It is true of our study, just as it is true of our proclamation that it must never be about us. Paul also said that his stewardship of the Grace of God was “given to me for you” (Ephesians 3:2). We will study and we will preach our best when we understand that we do this for God and for those who hear us. May He help us always to do our best, for them, and for Him. (Magnolia Messenger/Summer 2025).

NOTE: I appreciate this little article from the Jenkins Institute. It doesn’t teach a moral or spiritual lesson for anyone’s benefit. Preaching styles are different, but truth never changes. Pulpits have largely fallen into disfavor these days. They are seen as a barrier to communication. Many preachers prefer to stand in front of the pulpit or walk around it. They may carry their Bible or iPad with them. The large, what I call “Martin Luther” wooden pulpit is, in many churches, being replaced by slimmer podiums or acrylic lecterns. I agree with Jeff and Dale Jenkins in the above article, and I will do my best. Above all, “the word of God is not bound” (2 Tim. 2:9), to any particular style of preaching. – Dennis Gulledge