John the Baptist's life was defined for him hundreds of years before he ever uttered a word when he was prophesied in the book of Isaiah. Testified to have been the greatest prophet, he has become a staple of the Christian faith and the most important silhouette of an effective preacher. He utilized the idea that people are nothing without Christ, and he laid the outline for what it looks like to speak for God. His sermons were founded on three vital principles: confidence, sincere humility, and a strong call to repentance, and the historically documented effectiveness of his sermons testifies to the prowess of this style. However, in modern Christianity, there are many preachers who lack these elements in their sermons, and their inferior results prove that the most effective preaching style is one that emulates John's to match his results.

Understanding John's Style

On the surface, John was nothing beyond a lowly hermit. He lived in the wilderness and would feast on wild bugs. However, despite his poor and weak lifestyle, crowds of people from Judea would rush in to hear from him. John became such a large influence that King Herod executed the prophet for speaking against him. With seemingly no explanation for his rapidly growing following, one must ask the question, “What made John so impactful?”. In the book of Isaiah, God prophesied that John would come in the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah, and he would prepare the way for Christ. For some reason, this poor hermit was chosen by God and listened to by the people. Because no other aspect of John has any significance, one must conclude that something about his words made his life have an impact so sacred that it would still be discussed two thousand years later.

John’s sermons relied on three foundational principles: confidence that he knew the path to heaven, complete absence of pride, and a strong call to turn from sin and follow Jesus.

John’s actions prove that he was confident of his words and their power, even to the extent that he was willing to die to stand by them. After King Herod married his brother’s ex-wife, John spoke against Hared until he was later executed for it. John’s death shows that he had no fear in his preaching as he risked execution for what he said. Adding to the evidence is the certainty in his words, which are documented in the four Gospels. Before Jesus began his ministry John preached about what Christ would do and said, “I baptize you with water…; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”.

At this point, Jesus hasn’t performed a miracle, yet John is willing to declare before crowds that he would bring them a baptism by fire and revolutionize their lives.

The people listened to his declarations because they understood that he knew what he was talking about. His confidence, and any other preacher's confidence, incited trust in the audience. Without his certainty, people would doubt that he was a reliable person to listen to about God. However, he was very careful to not let his confidence become arrogance.

When a sermon revolves around the idea that the audience is living incorrectly, if they get the idea that the preacher thinks they're better than them, they're going to feel insulted and not intrigued.

Rather than a turn from their sinful life, they will only dive deeper into their hate and sin because of the insults sent their way. However, John would actively make sincere acts of humility, and John shows that effective humility can’t be fake. John’s followers were so loyal to him that after his death, they still loved him, and they gave him a burial service, so anything John asked of them they would have done. If John asked for money he would have received mounds of it. However, he lived as a hermit in the wilderness with no fortune to his name. This proves that his ministry was genuinely about bringing people to God and not a selfish path to fame. His lack of self-provision proves his lack of self-glorification. Additionally, beyond money, he could have received literal god-like praise. His followers trusted every word that exited his mouth no matter how extreme. If he claimed to be the Christ, then hundreds of disciples would now literally believe that he is a god. Despite this, John is documented in the Gospels testifying about Jesus, “He who is coming after me is mightier than I”.

He doesn’t just magnify Christ but he belittles himself.

His sermon is beyond making God bigger, but he calls people to follow his example and become small so that Jesus can take a larger place in their hearts. This act of making Jesus bigger than the preacher is vital for the final foundation of his preaching style, a strong call to turn from sin and follow Jesus. This is the most difficult for modern preachers to emulate because they often think that if they give a large repentance call, then no one will follow it, so they moderate their sermon. However, John went screaming to the hills that anyone who doesn’t turn to God will be under judgment. He is documented preaching, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath”. John could have never made so many people change their lives if he hadn’t told them what needed to be changed; likewise, modern preachers need to highlight sins in their audience's lives in an effective way if they want to see change.

This makes any sound preacher question, “How does John use such strong words with his audience and manage to get them to listen to him?”.

John’s clear humility allows him to deliver powerful declarations about our wrongdoing without making the audience feel attacked. Though the words are harsh, his insult acts as a plea to his audience that they would turn to God and not a statement of hatred. They can tell that he isn’t speaking to them from a place of judgment, but rather love, for he is willing to risk his public reputation to get them closer to Jesus. This last foundation of John’s style emphasizes the vital importance of utilizing all three aspects of his technique. Without the confidence to convince people that the preacher's words are true and the humility to make them not feel insulted, one cannot effectively incite change. John’s preaching style perfectly balances various parts of public speaking to revolutionize his audience's relationship with Jesus.

John Contradicts Poor Style

Other preachers and their results prove the prowess of John’s style. Historically impactful preachers consistently follow the three principles John utilized in his sermons, and the ineffective ones consistently don’t. Although there is rarely a bad preacher famous enough to use as an example, an article from The Gospel Coalition titled 7 Ways to Preach an Ineffective Sermon by Adrian R. Reynolds, gives a strong example of improper preaching.

Their first example of a poor sermon is one that is overly light, there isn’t much preparation, and not a lot to learn from it. John’s style was anything but light. The images of vipers and fire convey emotions that go very deep into Jesus and allow people to learn.

However, he doesn’t extend to the next poor method, which is an overly heavy sermon. Yes, John’s images are large, but they aren’t excessive. In his image of being baptized by the Spirit and fire, he merely speaks about the simple concept of revolutionizing one’s life when they turn to God, but in a way that sounds large enough to convey its importance.

He is careful to not fall into the third method, an overly complex sermon. It’s simple to understand the idea of making a change in one’s life through the power of Christ which made his words powerful but not difficult.

The next example of a bad sermon is an unintelligible one. A sermon that is too incoherent to be understood has no purpose. This one requires a less profound explanation, but the people who listened to him clearly understood what he asked them to do because they did what he asked them to do.

The most frequently performed poor sermon they list is the casual one. A casual sermon doesn’t give a strong call to action, so that they don’t offend the audience, but they fail to tell anything meaningful. It’s easy to do and it feels safe, but it’s also horribly ineffective. John’s sermons were wildly distant from casual sermons as he declared the wickedness he found in a life without Christ. He told his audience, who had no relationship with God, that they needed radicalization into the faith, and they listened.

The final example of a poor sermon is a disconnected one. A sermon that doesn’t relate to the audience's life is useless, but John’s words were perfectly set to the people he told. He preached strongly about wild change because much of his audience needed wild change. John’s style is a direct contradiction to a poor sermon, and therefore it must be effective.

History Proves John's Prowess

Conversely, historically effective preachers emulate John’s style. These preachers expand on the understanding of preaching because they show that there isn’t any other trick to reaching an audience beyond the foundations John outlined. The world-renowned preacher, Billy Graham, managed to change the lives of thousands because of his powerful words and it’s all on video for people to relive. Considered the greatest preacher in the last century by nearly all Christians, he has become a frequent choice when pastors look for a style to emulate.

Graham adds further credibility to John because Graham relied on the same confidence, humility, and calls toward Jesus that John utilized.

Graham’s message revolved around repentance. His primary goal was to see the lives of his audience get changed and to turn from sin and run to God. In order to see his results, he inspired credibility with his confidence. He wasn’t interesting to hear, and he would never utilize common public speaking tactics like humor. The only reason someone would listen to him is because it would get them closer to Jesus. Because of this, if people didn’t believe that he understood making a relationship with God, then no one would have cared. Like John, he spoke with certainty, and people listened because of it.

However, no one watching got the idea that Graham thought he was smarter or more righteous than them, even though he was.

He wasn’t teaching so that people would think highly of him in vanity; instead he genuinely wanted to see his audience prosper with the gifts only Christ has. Graham adds to the palpability of John’s style because he shows that it has all the necessary parts to bring someone to Jesus. A preacher doesn’t need humor, and they don’t need anecdotes, but they need John’s sermon pillars.

Going further into the evidence that communication skills are negligible in sermons is one of the worst public speakers, but greatest preachers of all time, Jonathan Edwards.

Edwards was a historic preacher of the 1700s, and preached messages that are still read today. His most famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, brought an estimated 5% of the British colonial population to repentance. He had the greatest results of possibly any preacher ever, however, he had the worst communication skills of possibly any preacher ever. Edwards would never make jokes, never tell stories, read in a monotone voice without emotion, utilized no bullet points, and he was an unintentional spit in the face to every communications professor. His boring speaking even extended to him holding the paper in front of his face as he read, allowing absolutely no motions because he was near-sighted.

This makes speakers have no choice but to ask, “What about his sermons would make people willing to listen to such horrible deliveries?”

The answer is the same three pillars as John and Graham, he demonstrated incredible confidence, humility, and gave strong calls to turn to Christ. His sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God was possibly the most fearless sermon in the last millennium. The entire speech was calling his audience wicked and telling them they would suffer because of it. His unheard-of confidence gave his audience no choice but to believe he knew the reality of God’s view on sinners. However, he managed to deliver it with enough humility to make the audience feel pleaded with instead of insulted. He would write out every word carefully and spend days dedicating himself to helping these people.

His lack of self-centeredness and strong care for the souls in his audience acted as the sincere humility needed to preach a call to repentance.

Lastly, he outlined the action steps with perfection. There was no way to listen to his sermons without understanding that the point is that one needs to turn from sin and follow God. Edwards and Graham, with their lack of excitement, demonstrate the immense and vital importance of John’s three sermon foundations for modern preachers.

Modern Christianity is full of preachers trying their hardest, but still failing to make a change in their audience. Their poor styles hinder repentance and stop people from turning to God. The solution to their struggles is the three foundations of a good sermon that John had mastered. Incorporating humility, confidence, and powerful calls to turn to God is an easy way for any preacher to reach their audience. If preachers want to see the change that they have imagined, this style of sermon is the most effective way to do it.

Works Cited

GotQuestions.org. “How Did John the Baptist Fulfill Isaiah’s Prophecy “to Prepare the Way of the Lord; Make His Paths Straight” (Matthew 3:3)? | GotQuestions.org.” GotQuestions.org, 2 Mar. 2023, www.gotquestions.org/prepare-the-way-of-the-Lord.html. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.

Kolin, Philip C. "John the Baptist." The Christian Century, vol. 138, no. 1, 13 Jan. 2021, p. 10. Gale OneFile: Religion and Philosophy, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A649635581/PPRP?u=s0761&sid=bookmark-PPRP&xid=1cc8f95d. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.

“Matthew 3:1-11,Luke 3:2-16 NIV - - Bible Gateway.” Www.biblegateway.com, www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%203%3A1-11%2CLuke%203%3A2-16&version=NIV.

Reynolds, Adrian R. “7 Ways to Preach an Ineffective Sermon.” The Gospel Coalition, www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/preach-ineffective-sermon/.

Strugnell, John. “St. John the Baptist | Facts, Feast Day, & Death.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 17 Oct. 2017, www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-the-Baptist.

“What Made Billy Graham’s Sermons so Successful?” Spu.edu, 31 May 2018, stories.spu.edu/articles/made-billy-grahams-sermons-successful. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.

“Why Was the Preaching of Jonathan Edwards so Effective?” The MD Harris Institute, 13 Feb. 2013, mdharrismd.com/2013/02/13/why-was-the-preaching-of-jonathan-edwards-so-effective/.