Practicing What I Preach

Every once in a while someone makes a statement that reflects their curiosity about the relationship between my life and my sermons. That's fair enough. I periodically see doctors smoking or police officers speeding and I wonder too. I guess some things are different when when you're not "on the job."

So what's the relationship between a sermon and the life of the person who preaches it? I can't answer that question for anyone else, but I must admit, if I were a police officer I might have to write myself a ticket periodically. And that's because the standard I preach is no easier for me to attain than anyone else. "Trust God," I say, but then something happens and I find my default response is to look to some thing or some one else. "Live in the power God has made available through Christ" I say, but then I struggle not to feel defeated or powerless in some situation.

I think Paul might have known something about this. He said, "I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize (1Cor 9:27)." I can't think of a much better way to say it. The biggest difference between me and those who hear a sermon I preach might be that my response time is before the sermon instead of after it.