In this week’s episode of Craft and Character, Joel Muddamalle shares about why humility is integral for studying and communicating God’s Word.

As a preacher, it’s easy to tip your hat to humility. No communicator wants to be a peacock in the pulpit. But what does humility really look like?

Here’s four things to look for as you evaluate your teaching.

Humility Acknowledges We Are Better Together

As I’ve interacted with many pastors through the years, every once in a while one boasts that they “never consult commentaries.” Various reasons are given: they have a Ph.D, have taught the passage a dozen times, or have read most of the relevant material.

While it’s possible, over years, to be incredibly fluent in scholarship on a passage, humility is endlessly eager to mine the theological ore of modern and ancient thinkers. What do the Church Fathers, Augustine, Aquinas, and Luther see in your text? What do theologians outside your tribe and time say?

Humility is ever-vigilant against the subconscious lure of eisegesis by welcoming many voices to your study desk. In our thinking and preaching, we are better together.

Humility Frees You from Know-it-all-ism

The pressure of the pulpit is to appear omniscient to your people. Whether caused by pride or being unduly put on a pedestal, preachers start seeing the phrase “I don’t know” as an admission of failure.

Refreshingly, renowned theologian John Frame, now in his eighties, embraces the mystery of God more than ever: “No matter how clear our concepts and cogent our arguments, God is, in the end, a transcendent being, above and beyond us, one whom we cannot master either by physical strength or by mental skill.”

Our post-Christian world is weary of clichéd, reductionistic answers that put God in a box. Humility enthusiastically acknowledges that God is God and we are not. It’s exciting to consider that, while God has made himself gloriously known, there is always more to discover about him.

While teaching a high school Bible class, I responded to a student’s question with: “I’m not sure, let’s look it up.” As I thumbed through my study Bible, I was startled when the student said out loud: “You’re a Bible teacher, and you don’t know the answer?”

It was a marvelous teaching moment. I paused, then explained how “I don’t know” is one of the most important phrases any student of Scripture should employ. Humility to admit what you don’t know makes you hungry to learn all we can know.

Humility Increases Theological Precision

Just as theological certainty can be overplayed, it can also be underplayed. Humility does not paint all truth in swatches of gray. As Allastair Begg quips: In scripture the “main things are the plain things.” We should not cower from, or cast doubt upon, clear biblical realities like salvation, the identity of Christ, or his atoning work on the Cross.

However, where there is legitimate debate among theologians through the ages, humility is eager to bring people into those conversations. Rather than airbrushing historical disagreements in the church, the preacher’s job is to synthesize the arguments of history, then explain where they land and why.

Remember that annoying requirement from seventh-grade algebra一to not just give an answer but show your work? Preachers have the same requirement. This doesn’t mean weighing down your sermon with minutiae. It can simply involve using phrases like:

• “Scholars debate this theological point, and after studying, here’s where I land …”

• “Some people read this passage and think it means A. I’m more inclined to think it means B, and here’s several reasons …”

Show people your work一how you got from A to B. In doing so, you’re not merely explaining your view; you are training people how to analyze biblical data and form their own view.

Humility Creates a Healthy Church Culture

As a preacher, you’re creating a culture, not just delivering content. People follow your tone, not just your theology. People emulate your posture, not just your doctrinal position. From the pulpit, many things are caught, not taught.

Humility starts from the front. No preacher is infallible一only God’s Word is, which means from time-to-time it’s imperative for a preacher to admit their fallibility. We are stewards of this Book, not its master. There’s only room for one Lord, thus the rest of us are learners.

Show people you’re still learning, by joyfully submitting to the text, and enthusiastically announcing when you’ve discovered something for the first time.

Humbly Onward

Which aspect of humility would you like to devote more attention to:

• Consulting more theologians outside your time and tribe

• Embracing the mystery of God and the phrase “I don’t know”

• Taking the time to explain clearly and compellingly why you hold a particular theological view

• Modeling a learner’s posture

Pick one to focus on while preparing your next sermon, and blessings as you do!

Will Anderson is a senior editor at Waterbrook Multnomah.