An old adage says, “One example is better than precepts.” This is particularly true with respect to a preacher’s life. 1 Timothy 3:7 tells us why a preacher fails to live up to what he or she preaches, such a preacher will suffer reproach and open the door for the devil to have a foothold in his or her life. The seven sons of Sceva are a good case point (Acts 19:12-17). A preacher must have a good report, even among unbelievers. Our Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:16:
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Romans 2:20 says those who preach by words alone and not by good deeds are instructors of the foolish. In other words, only a fool would listen to someone who does not practise what he or she preaches. The same Bible verse also describes such people as teachers of babes. Only babes would take a teacher who leads a double-life seriously. However, by the time such babes in Christ grow to a level of considerable spiritual maturity, they will abandon such teachers. This accounts for why some churches remain a nursery for Christians who later move on to higher levels in other churches.

There is no way our preaching can be effective if we do the direct opposite of what we preach. We strip God’s word of its power in the lives of our hearers when we are neck deep in those same vices we preach against. It is better not to be a preacher than to be one who does not do what he or she preaches, because the Name of the Lord is reviled in the process and the word of God is made of none effect. Romans 2:23-24 says:
“Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.”
The choice is yours to make on not being numbered among those who drag the Name of the Lord through the mud. Today, some preachers have become the object of mockery because they have refused to like Jesus Christ, who embodied all that He taught (Acts 1:1). It is time for preachers to begin to preach and live God’s word, and not their own ideas. Jesus is the Word of God, and preachers must draw the attention of their audience to Him alone. It is when we lift Jesus up in our messages that men will be drawn to Him (John 12:32)
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.