C. The preacher’s vocal powers and their employment in the act of preaching
1. The relative importance of the vocal powers in preaching.
a. In relationship to the vital, consistent, and growing Christian character of the preacher, the vocal powers are of secondary importance.
1) Explanation
It is a well known truism that “What you are and what you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear a word that you say.”
It is for this reason that the primary biblical requirements for the office of an elder are those that point to the necessity for a vital, consistent, mature, and balanced Christian character.
1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 2 Cor. 4:2b
2) Application
Whatever we may be constrained to do after these lectures in order to exercise and develop our vocal powers, such disciplines must always take second place to the command of Paul to Timothy in 1Tim. 4:7-“exercise yourself unto godliness.”
b. In relationship to the content of our preaching, the vocal powers of the preacher are also of secondary importance.
1) Explanation
If our view of preaching is taken from the Scriptures, we are persuaded that the clear, accurate, proclamation and application of the Scriptures is of the very essence of preaching.
2 Tim. 4:2; Is. 8:20
Our job description is succinctly stated in
2 Tim. 2:15
Bad content, well delivered, can only advance the cause of error and ignorance.
Rom. 16:18; 2 Pet. 2:18
2) Application
It is absolutely crucial, that you constantly remember that everything I say from here to the conclusion of the next lecture rests down upon these first two qualifying principles concerning the relative importance of the use of our vocal powers in relationship to the life of the preacher and the substance of what he preaches
If we fail to keep in mind the relative importance of the voice in relationship to the preacher’s life and to the measure of truth he proclaims, our motives and endeavors in vocal culture will leave us vulnerable to soul-destructive deviations from biblical norms, both in our lives and in our labors, and in our hearers.
Always remember the simple little principle, that with respect to preaching, “Character and content take precedence over voice.”
Gardiner Spring, The Power of the Pulpit, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1986), pp. 152-153. (Quote from page 291 is found on page 153)
Rev. James Stalker, The Preacher and His Models, (New York: A. C. Armstrong & Sons, 1891), pp. 167-168.
Robert L. Dabney, Sacred Rhetoric, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1979), p. 261.
c. Relative to the actual activity of preaching, the vocal powers are of supreme and critical importance.
John A. Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, (Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2005), p. 483.
Although physical action or animation ordinarily constitute a vital part of effective preaching; although eye contact and sensitivity to the mutually generated current between preacher and congregation are also a vital part of effective preaching; none of these things can displace the use of the voice from its position of primacy of importance in the activity of preaching.
Charles H. Spurgeon, “On the Voice” in Lectures to My Students, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2008), pp. 125-126.
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