I am so glad God calls each of us to minister in our own unique ways. God created you specifically for the calling He placed on your life (Jeremiah 1:5). That means you should never try to copy another preacher or manufacture a personality you think others want from you. Instead, lean in to the specific skill set and disposition God gave you.

One area in which some preachers feel pressured to perform is emotion. Just like the rest of your personality, your emotional characteristics are unique to you. Some preachers like to get loud and boisterous, waving their hands and being expressive. Others are more reserved; keeping calm, cool, and collected is how they communicate best. Neither of these is necessarily correct, nor is one better than the other.

There appears to be two extremes when it comes to preaching and emotions. In recent years, it seems we’ve swung to the side that prizes information and intellect over passion and emotion. This is likely a response to the perception that speakers use emotion to manipulate audiences, elicit a specific result or exploit people for personal gain. I think holding back emotion in preaching is a bit of an overreaction, though.

The pendulum between these two poles is nothing new. In classical rhetoric, the two forms of communication described above are logos and pathos. The use of logic in argument goes back millennia, but so does pathos, or the engagement of an audience’s emotions to produce a result. The most skilled rhetorical speakers were able to use a balance of both to make their point.

Emotionless Preaching Is Empty

Preaching is not just about conveying information. If that were the case, we could save everyone’s time on Sundays and hand out a carefully written, typed statement. Read it, and enjoy the rest of your day. Be blessed!

Preaching does appeal to the intellect, but it goes further than that. I would argue that preaching, more than any other form of speaking, engages us on an emotional level to cement the intellectual information we need. The words of the preachers pass from ears to minds, but the true target is the heart.

Preaching emotionally, in whatever way fits the speaker’s particular bent and character, requires an emotional investment in the sermon. In other words, if you hope to move someone, you must first be moved. If you’ve never had an experience that touched your heart, the seat of your emotions, it will be difficult for you to lead others to that same place.

As preachers, we should tap into the pathways God created to help persuade people to respond.

So true emotional preaching must come from a place of true heartfelt passion.

A sermon about salvation should come from your own experience of receiving the grace of God during an altar experience. A sermon on prayer should arise from your own practice of taking your cares to God and casting them on His capable shoulders. A sermon on tithing should be anchored by your own financial struggles that are answered by generous obedience to God’s Word.

If God has moved your heart, why wouldn’t you express that emotionally in your message? If your experiences included crying, anger, frustration, joy, peace and outbursts of praise, why wouldn’t you let your audience into that part of your life? Your transparency could lead to transformation.

Emotions Aren’t the End

There is a certain amount of persuasion involved in preaching. You’re preaching for a response each time. What is the desired response? That often depends on the setting and your content. Regardless, you should be clear with each message about the appropriate response, including the emotions you want your audience to feel.

Craig Groeschel uses three interconnected questions to summarize his approach to preaching: What do I want them to know? What do I want them to do? What do I want them to feel? We’ve done our job as preachers when we’ve answered and clearly communicated these three things.

Preachers often spend a lot of time focusing on the “know” category as they carefully study the text and shape the material. And the “do” part of a message is often the crucial point, the take-away or the altar time. But we often neglect the feelings of our audience.

Emotions are never an end in themselves, but they can be a means to an end. Sadness moves us to search for hope. Conviction moves us to repentance. Joy moves us to worship. These are normal emotional expressions. In fact, they are God-designed components of our nature. As preachers, we should tap into the pathways God created to help persuade people to respond.

That does not mean we con them into responding. Manufactured emotion that manipulates a response is not helpful. Overblown conviction can often be the product of a preacher who feels the need to do the Holy Spirit’s job. Instead, we must master our emotions in a way that guides people to salvation rather than guilting them into condemnation.

However God designed you, He made you an emotional being. It is part of your identity and DNA. It would be a disservice to His design if you did not employ emotion for the work of the gospel.

Emotions should never outshine the Word of the Lord. But when we can use emotions to draw people closer to Him, we’re preaching with all our skills — and all our heart.