I made a mistake.

While preaching through 2 Kings, I wanted to make a point about the number of years between the northern kingdom of Israel falling to the Assyrians and the Babylonians conquering Judah.

I turned to the resource most people use when needing a fact: Google. An answer appeared at the top of my search results, and I added it to my notes.

After I preached the message, though, a congregant approached me and said, “Pastor, you got something wrong in your sermon.”

The man went on to explain that the number of years I had suggested based on my quick Google search was not only wrong but absurdly so. He seemed surprised I would make such a mistake.

Feeling embarrassed, I realized there was little to say in my defense. I was wrong.

As preachers, we produce a lot of words. A 30-minute sermon is about 3,500 words. One sermon each week amounts to nearly 200,000 words annually. Unsurprisingly, a few of those words sometimes go awry. We make mistakes.

I’m not talking about major doctrinal blunders, false teaching, or moral problems. I mean small details, historical notes, and bits of commentary we present with good intentions, but erroneously. How we handle such mistakes matters.

Ignorance and Pride

I recently heard a Bible college professor talk about common misunderstandings concerning Jesus’ parables. As he spoke, I realized I held some of these wrong ideas.

My first thought was, I don’t want to know this!

Confronting false assumptions is hard — particularly when we’ve preached them. Yet learning begins with admitting we don’t have all the answers.

Preaching mistakes are probably more common than we realize. After all, people don’t always know as much as they think.

Sociologists call this the Dunning-Kruger effect. In one experiment, test takers who scored poorly overestimated their performance, believing they were well above average.

During another study, researchers asked people about their understanding of various subjects, some of which were made up. Ninety percent of participants claimed some knowledge of the nonexistent topics.

Confidence can mislead. For preachers, what we don’t know may feel personally threatening.

Mistakes expose our insecurities. This can leave us reluctant to learn, unwilling to reconsider, and even hesitant to care. We coast on what we already know, find correction irritating, and settle for what has worked before.

This is not the posture Scripture prescribes, however.

Careful Study

Timothy was young and pastoring in the challenging city of Ephesus. The Ephesian church was caught up in “quarrelling” and “godless chatter” (2 Timothy 2:14,16).

With Paul as his mentor, it would have been easy for Timothy to feel intimidated. After all, Paul had studied with some of the greatest rabbinic minds of his time (Acts 22:3). Timothy had been educated in the Scriptures by his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5).

Paul told Timothy, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2).

However, that was not Timothy’s only assignment. Paul also instructed Timothy to remove false teachers and appoint new leaders.

With those things in view, Paul said, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Confronting false assumptions is hard
— particularly when we’ve preached them.

There is something both compassionate and challenging about Paul’s charge. Timothy needed to study so he wouldn’t be ashamed. He was to handle the word of truth correctly. But Paul also reminded Timothy to keep God at the center of his efforts.

The purpose of Timothy’s studying and learning was not to earn accolades or impress his listeners. Rather, Paul wanted Timothy to give God his best. Timothy’s willingness to keep growing for God’s glory would dispel any shame.

There will always be people who know more than you. And there will always be new things to learn. No one is an expert on everything. That’s OK.

God calls us to grow, seek understanding, and take seriously the responsibility of correctly handling the Word of truth.

As with Timothy in Ephesus, careful study for the sake of the Kingdom will distinguish our life and message amid the controversies and godless chatter of the present age.

Of course, even the most careful and studious preacher will make mistakes. The key is knowing how to deal with them.

Navigating Mistakes

When the inevitable happens, there are four things you can do.

1. Identify the problem. If you mess up, take the time to figure out what went wrong.

My mistake while studying 2 Kings was trusting a quick Google search without validating it. That was a sloppy way to prepare for a sermon.

Mistakes can happen in a number of ways. Perhaps a source is unreliable. Maybe the preacher remembers something incorrectly. Some errors are simply a matter of misspeaking.

Recognizing the mistake isn’t enough. We need to figure out where the mistake came from if we hope to improve our studying, thinking, and delivery.

2. Consider correcting it. Not every mistake requires a public correction. Regularly starting a sermon by fact checking the previous week’s message probably isn’t the best way to instill confidence in your listeners.

Still, there are times when correcting yourself is beneficial. Your congregation already knows you make mistakes. Acknowledging your imperfections demonstrates humility.

Occasionally, I will correct or clarify something I got wrong the week before. But I also address points I was wrong about much earlier in my ministry. This may involve simply talking about how I discovered something that changed or broadened my previous understanding.

Such admissions go a long way toward building trust and modeling a lifetime of learning. That kind of honesty increases credibility.

3. Take a long view. I try not to nitpick every sermon I preach. There is a place for critique, but looking for faults week after week can demoralize even the most confident preacher.

I’m more interested in seeing improvements over a year or even a decade.

Are you growing through your studies? Are you handling God’s Word with greater maturity than you did several years ago?

Taking a broader view frees you to move in a positive direction even while negotiating the ups and downs of preaching.

4. Check your heart. Hearing you were wrong is difficult, but mistakes can be opportunities for self-evaluation.

Unchecked insecurity can deeply damage you and your congregation. Pastors need humility in preaching, just as they do in leadership and relationships.

If your response is deep annoyance whenever someone points out a mistake, it might be a sign of spiritual and emotional issues you haven’t fully surrendered to God.

As Paul wisely recognized in his advice to Timothy, we do this work of studying and preaching first for God — the One who bestows on us endless grace and mercy.

Mistakes need not bury us in shame or embarrassment. Instead, they should spur us onward in our commitment to study, proclaim the pure gospel, and rely on God.

Our calling is to handle the Word of truth rightly. Even mistakes can help propel us toward that goal.

This article appears in the Spring 2024 issue of Influence magazine.