In 2007 during the Republican presidential primary campaign, Wayne Grudem had this to say about Mitt Romney:

As an evangelical professor of Bible and theology, I have decided to support Mitt Romney for President (even though he is a Mormon) for two old-fashioned reasons: First, he is the best-qualified candidate, and second, he holds moral and political values consistent with those in the Bible.

Best-qualified: The best predictor of future performance is a person’s past track record. Romney’s record is stellar:

Intellectual ability: He was in the top 5 percent of his class at Harvard Business School and simultaneously in the top 1/3 of his class at Harvard Law School. He is incredibly intelligent.

Governor of Massachusetts: He won the governor’s race as a Republican in Massachusetts and restored financial discipline to the state. He was a successful governor of a liberal state. This also means he has a good shot at winning some New England states away from the Democrats in the general election.

Business success: He was hired by Bain & Company, one of the elite business consulting firms in the country, and was so successful that he became a partner. He then founded Bain Capital and made it a highly successful investment company. He built a personal fortune of around $200,000,000 in the process, an amazing business achievement. He knows how to run businesses, and what makes them profitable. This indicates a deep and also practical understanding of what kind of policies will be helpful or harmful to an economy, and second, an outstanding management ability proven in both state government and in business, which is a good predictor of ability to be an excellent President. By contrast, no Democratic candidate has ever run a business, a state or even a city.

Chairman of Olympic Games: He also rescued the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. When he was brought in to run the Games he turned what was heading to a scandal-ridden financial and PR disaster into a widely-praised success. This involved massive skill in public relations, media management, diplomacy, morale building, and financial administration. This is Romney’s consistent track record: he solves large problems.

Conservative positions: Romney’s positions on social, economic, and international issues are all soundly conservative. On major issues such as protection of the unborn, a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, strong national defense and victory against radical Islamic terrorists, securing our border, a signed pledge of no tax increases, promoting school choice, and appointment of Supreme Court justices who will interpret law, not make new law, Romney holds solidly conservative positions. His positions are the ones the majority of evangelicals have supported in the past.

Some people object that Romney has “flip-flopped” on some of these positions. I think that accusation is exaggerated. He hasn’t flip-flopped back and forth, he has simply become more consistently conservative. I think that’s a good thing in a political and media climate that is more and more liberal. (In fact, Ronald Reagan also changed from signing a liberal abortion law as governor of California to being a consistently pro-life president.) Evangelicals have worked for decades to persuade people of the pro-life position, and Romney has been persuaded, and he is strongly on our side on this issue.

What about his religion? Romney is a Mormon, and I strongly disagree with a significant number of Mormon theological beliefs, which I find to be inconsistent with the Bible and with historic Christian teachings. But many Mormon teachings on ethics and values are similar to those in the Bible, and those teachings support Romney’s conservative political values.

Can evangelicals support a candidate who is politically conservative but not an evangelical Christian? Yes, certainly. In fact, it would demonstrate the falsehood of the liberal accusation that evangelicals are just trying to make this a “Christian nation” and only want evangelical Christians in office. For evangelicals to support a Mormon candidate would be similar to supporting a conservative Jewish candidate—someone we don’t consider a Christian but who comes from a religious tradition that believes in absolute moral values very similar to those that Christians learn from the Bible. Here in Arizona a few years ago I voted for Matt Salmon, a Mormon candidate for governor. He lost, but his policies would have been much more conservative than those of Janet Napolitano, who has now vetoed dozens of pro-life, pro-family bills.

Or have we come to the point where evangelicals will only vote for people they consider Christians? I hope not, for nothing in the Bible says that people have to be born again Christians before they can be governmental authorities who are used greatly by God to advance his purposes. God used Pharaoh, King of Egypt, to raise Joseph to a position of authority over the whole country, so he could save his people from famine (Genesis 41:37-57). God used Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, to protect and raise up Daniel and his Jewish friends to positions of high authority over Babylon (Daniel 2:46-49). God used Cyrus, King of Persia, to restore the Jewish exiles to their homeland (Isaiah 45:16; Ezra 1:1-4), and used Darius, King of Persia, to protect the Jewish people as they rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 6:1-12). God used Ahashuerus, King of Persia, to raise up Esther as Queen and to give Mordecai high authority and honor in his kingdom (Esther 6:10-11; 8:1-2, 7-15). In the New Testament age, God used the peace enforced by the secular Roman Empire, the Pax Romana, to enable the early Christians to travel freely and spread the Gospel throughout the Mediterranean world.

Here in the United States, God used not only Founding Fathers who were strong Christians, but also Deists such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, to build the foundation of our nation. Jefferson even became our third President in 1801, a demonstration of the wisdom of Article 6 of the Constitution, which says, “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

The Bible tells us to pray not just for Christians who happen to have government offices, but “for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:2). It is not just Christians in government but all governing authorities who are “instituted by God” (Romans 13:1) and whom Paul can call “God’s servant for your good” (Romans 13:4).

People may object, “But a lot of people won’t vote for Romney because he’s a Mormon.” I suppose there will be some people like that, but there are three current and historical facts that make me think that problem will diminish as the campaign goes on: First, look to Massachusetts, where Romney won the governor’s race in a very liberal state because people saw his competence and common decency and elected him, and his Mormonism didn’t matter to them. Second, consider the situation in Iowa, where there are a lot of evangelicals, and Romney remains the front-runner in the polls. Third, remember Michigan, where Mitt Romney’s father George was a popular governor from 1963 to 1969, even though he was a Mormon.

When people get to know who Romney is, his Mormonism seems not to be a big deal in a political election. The hypothetical question, “Would you vote for a Mormon?” is very different from, “Now that you have gotten to know who Mitt Romney is, would you vote for him?” The more voters get to know him, the more his Mormonism doesn’t matter much.

Ability to win: Romney grew up in Michigan, where his father was governor, and he still has strong name recognition there. This gives him a good chance at winning some Midwest industrial states, a key to the election. And he would make Massachusetts highly competitive, since he was recently governor there. In fact, by winning the governor’s race as a Republican in a solidly Democratic state, he has proven that he can win large numbers of Democratic votes in an election.

In addition, I think Romney would not just tie but win in presidential debates against Hillary Clinton: he’s smarter, more articulate, and more experienced. And the conservative values he stands for still resonate with the majority of Americans. In addition, nearly everyone who has known Romney finds him genuinely likable, which would work to his advantage over Hillary’s abrasive personality in the long months of a campaign.

There are other Republican candidates with conservative positions, but they haven’t generated anywhere near as much support as Romney, probably because more and more voters are deciding that Romney is much better qualified (my point above), and that he is simply the best candidate: articulate, persuasive, intelligent, mature, strong, successful in several fields and a genuine leader.

Therefore it seems to me that supporting Mitt Romney who has a very reasonable chance of winning makes more sense at this point than supporting someone who is not persuading many Republican voters, or speculating about supporting a third-party candidate who can’t win and who would effectively hand Hillary Clinton 2 to 4 Supreme Court appointments and thereby undo 25 years of pro-life work in trying to change the Supreme Court.

The situation as it looks today: Apart from Romney, I don’t think there is any other solidly conservative candidate who can beat Giuliani in the primaries. As for McCain and Thompson, they are not reliably conservative. Among the “second-tier” candidates, there are some good men with solid positions, but they have not generated much support. With the early primary schedule nearly upon us it isn’t reasonable to hope that one of them will suddenly “take off.” There is not enough time now to build sufficient funding and a large enough support structure before January.

So it seems to me that if evangelicals don’t support Romney in a significant way, Giuliani will be the Republican candidate. So then we will have a pro-abortion, pro-gay rights candidate who is on his third marriage and had a messy affair prior to his divorce from his second wife. Then we will lose any high moral ground and the enthusiasm of the evangelical vote (many of whom will just sit it out), and the difference between Giuliani and Clinton will be only one of degrees as he shifts leftward in the general election to appeal to the “middle.” So then if we lose, we lose, and even if we win, we lose on the crucial moral issues of abortion and protection of marriage. Romney is a much better choice. But he needs evangelical support now if he is going to win.”

GB

I woke up this morning and thought of this quote from CS Lewis:

That is why the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day.” (CS Lewis, Mere Christianity)

My hope in this post is not to tell preachers how to get better at preaching. I want to take one step back and talk about how to get better at getting better as a preacher. How do you improve at improving? How do you enhance at enhancing as a preacher? For me, there are two categories, the foundational and the practical. The foundational category transcends all age and skill levels. These are things that all preachers must keep in mind as they grow as a preacher. The practical category consists of a few things I try to do to grow and progress as a preacher.

The Foundational 

Know the Gospel. This sounds obvious. But as preachers we can spend lots of our time preaching the Gospel to others, that we forget to preach it to ourselves. Humans are constantly assigning some kind of verdict to their lives. Good, bad, guilty, winner, loser, etc. We long for approval and validation. Those who preach the word of God week in and out often assign themselves a verdict based on how well the sermon is received or how widely God uses it. But we must know that preachers are not justified by sermons! We are made righteous and just solely through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. We must continue to go back to this foundational truth over and over and hear our Father say, “You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”

Holiness. Holy preachers are great preachers. Wether God blesses your ministry numerically or not, if you are holy, you are successful by the Bible’s standards. There is no substitute for holiness. The gap between your private life and public life should be closed at all costs. Holy preachers, regardless of their gifting, carry a weight and an authority in the pulpit. So strive and labor to be holy at all costs.

Protect a high view of preaching. Everything else in your ministry is driven by and submissive to preaching. Leadership, vision casting, counseling, staffing, meetings, programs, small groups, etc., are all driven by the preaching of the word. There is no higher calling and privilege according to Martyn Lloyd Jones. You must protect this view of preaching. The grind of ministry will by nature tempter the passion and snuff out the flame to preach the word with vigor, depth, and enthusiasm.

Preach for God’s glory. Again, this sounds obvious. But preaching is a battle between two kingdoms, yours and God’s. You will preach for yourself or for God. You will need to constantly hit the refresh button on this area of your preaching.

The Practical

Know you must grow. You must get better as a preacher. No one is immune to this. Regardless of how big your church is or how long you’ve been in ministry, growth as a preacher must take place.

Manuscript your sermon. I can already hear a few of my friends pushing back against this one! I know it sounds foreign to many of you. Trust me, this is not my preferred stye either. But it has helped my preaching significantly. Surprisingly, it shortened my preparation time. It focused me, streamlined my exegesis and application and illustrations, and made delivery much smoother. Try it for a month.

Get feedback loops in your life. You need feedback. You can too easily swindle yourself into thinking that you are preaching well. Ask your wife. Ask your friends. Give your members permission to critique your sermons. Ask other preachers to listen to your sermons. You will grow tremendously through feedback.

Embrace all criticism. Not all criticism is correct, but all of it is helpful. Criticism makes you think. Even if your critic is wrong, thinking about their comments and feedback will strengthen you as a preacher. So learn to lean into criticism. Don’t immediately take offense or write them off. Listen. Ask questions. Really see them.

Read and listen to other preachers. Be careful here. I am prone to mimicking and copying as are many of you. But we must learn from the experts. We must see how they handle certain texts and topics, how they deliver the sermon, how they prepare. This is where dead preachers are extremely helpful. Reading dead preachers is a near safeguard against mimicking. Who could, or would, preach like Jonathan Edwards or Charles Spurgeon?!

Define good preaching in your context. Many of us preach for a different set of ears. We preach with the conference listener in mind, the podcaster, or our heroes church. But God called you to that church and that people. He did not call you to John Piper’s church or Tim Keller’s church. He called you to where you are. No one can preach to your people the way you can. You know them. You’ve counseled them, encouraged them, wept with them. So learn how to preach to them not some imaginary listener.

Try something different. Preach longer. Preach shorter. Use notes. Don’t use notes. Use a podium or pulpit. Remove the podium or pulpit. Preach a different kind of series than normal. Avoid gimmicks and distractions, but do something to move you to an unknown area in your preaching. See what God does.

Balance warmth and authority. Some guys are bold and authoritative. Some guys are more gentle and warm. The hope is to combine both. We can’t always be warm and meek, and we can’t always be thunderous and authoritative. The text calls for different moods. Learn to balance both depending on the topic or issue.

Be content. God wired and geared you a certain way. Know your limitations. Be comfortable in you own skin and let God do with you what He wants. Be faithful where you are and with who you are. Always be learning and growing. But always rest in where God has you and who He made you to be.

GB