Finding Your Voice

“Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.” – Miles Davis

We live in an amazing age.  The world has become increasingly connected and small because of the interwebs, cell phones, and nifty gadgets.

As a preacher, I’ve found that podcasts are incredibly useful.  Being able to listen to the best communicators in the world whenever I want is a real gift. Not to mention surveying the culture, listening to seminary classes on iTunes U, and keeping up with leadership stuff from people like Catalyst.

On a given week I listen to between 15-20 sermons to learn from well-known preachers like Tim Keller, Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, and Andy Stanley.  I also enjoy listening to preacher friends from around the country to stay up with their churches as well as other lesser known pastors who are further down the road than me.  When I think about it, I’ve probably listened to thousands of sermons and my life and ministry have been greatly enriched because of it.

But there’s a downside for the preacher.

We can end up sounding so much like those we admire that we don’t put the effort in to find our own voice.

For years, Mark Driscoll has been a can’t-miss podcast for me.  His blend of bible teaching, humor, and confrontational style appeals to my macho-man self.  Like many, I highly respect him and have learned a great deal from him through his preaching and writing.  However, last year I listened to a podcast of mine and noticed how much I sounded like him.

It was eerie and I didn’t like what I had heard.  Why? Because it wasn’t me.

I never wanted to be a cookie cut from someone else’s mold.  Just Jesus’. Yet that’s exactly what was happening.

Yes, we should learn from others. Yes, we are influenced by others. Yes, there are many who are better. BUT God has given me, and everything other preacher, a unique voice.  He has not called us to be the next John Piper, Rob Bell, Perry Noble, or Rick Warren. He has called us to be the first us!  Preachers are to follow Jesus, discover and use our voice, and make disciples who listen to His voice.

Instead, I sounded like a Driscollpalian. A Mark Driscoll clone.

So I took a dramatic step. I went on a three month Mark Driscoll fast. Yep, I fasted from Mark Driscoll. I didn’t read his books, listen to his podcasts, or view his tweets.

I know it sounds funny, but I was (and still am) on a journey to find my voice. It wasn’t about him, it was about me. I needed to recalibrate and get on the track to finding my voice.

Driscoll (and other gifted leaders) have remarkable ministries and younger guys like me can learn a lot from them.  But let us put aside the desire to be them. We are not. We are us!

I will never be Leonard Sweet, Erwin McManus, Steven Furtick, or any other well-known preacher. I will be Jason Salamun. I will (by the grace of God) grow as a communicator of the gospel by opening my bible and pointing people to Jesus.

While I’m at it, Project Church will never be Mars Hill, LifeChurch.tv, Mosaic, or any other well-known church. We will be Project Church. And while we worship the same God as these wonderful churches, our fingerprint is our own.  So is yours.

So how do you find your voice?

I’m still learning but the only way I know of to find your voice is to preach and preach some more.  It doesn’t just happen, it takes work. “Swinging ’til your hands bleed” I heard someone say. Everyone starts somewhere.  (Ever notice how Driscoll’s early sermons in the mid-90’s aren’t even listed on their media page?)

It might also be helpful to listen to yourself (as painful as that might be) and ask people you respect to give you honest feedback.

We live in a funny time. Because of the availability of messages online today, people will compare you to their favorites and criticize you against that standard. Be cautious about who you listen to. I’m much more apt to listen to a wise mentor or trusted friend than some internet sermon savant who knows little about me or my community.  I’ve had my fair share of those know-it-all bible school students who want to haggle over secondary matters in a church they aren’t even connected to.  Don’t go down that road. You’ve got better things to do (like loving people).

If you’re a preacher, let me remind of this: you are called! Be humble and learn, be patient and grow, and be faithful and preach. You have a mighty task and stand in a line of imperfect people God has used to change hearts and history.

Find your voice my friend.  The world needs you to bring Jesus.

And if you’re the critic, cut the preacher some slack. They might be working a full-time job while planting a start-up church, leading a family of four, dealing with stress and burden of being a leader that you’ll never fully understand, while pouring their heart and soul into helping jacked-up people take their first and next steps in following Jesus. If they aren’t a straight-up heretic, then the least you can do is nut-up, pray them up, and offer up some freakin’ encouragement because trust me pal, they could really use it!