3 Ways Pastors Can Develop Genuineness and Integrity

Cultivating Ethos in the Preacher

Learning to preach persuasively takes work. It requires effort—effort beyond exegesis. As a preacher, you need to possess command over not only what you say but how you say it. You need to grasp an essential principle, however, before giving yourself to mastering the elements that go into making your message. You must first commit to cultivating a positive ethos—that is, the making of the man—for as a preacher, your character will either help or hinder how your message is received. Put differently, those of us who have the privilege of proclaiming God’s good news must be men known for exhibiting the goodness of God in our own lives.

Even pagans understand the importance of ethos. It was Quintilian who said, “My aim, then, is the education of the perfect orator. The first essential for such a one is that he should be a good man, and consequently we demand of him not merely the possession of exceptional gifts of speech, but of all the excellences of character as well.”¹

For our purposes, let us restate his dictum plainly: The persuasive preacher cultivates ethos in his person. The church must educate a generation of preachers to cultivate all the virtues of personal character, not only those things related to “exceptional gifts of speech.” When it comes to persuasion, the moral formation of your life must be your first concern.

We are talking about the archer: the person in the pulpit, the man who stands to speak a message from God.

Persuasive Preaching

David R. Helm, Jeremy Meeks

This 9Marks book offers practical tips on public speaking that pastors can apply in their sermons to bring clarity, spark interest, and demonstrate care for their audiences.

Defining Ethos and Cultivating It in the Preacher

Technically, ethos is a neutral term. One’s ethos can be positive or negative. The preacher can be thought of by those listening to him as either credible or not. He can be either legitimate or illegitimate. For those called to herald the good news of Jesus, cultivating a positive ethos is a must. Character counts. The credibility of our message is inherently connected not only to the creed we proclaim but also to the lives we lead. In other words, we must be the real deal.

Since the ethos of the inner man is our first priority, how do we as preachers go about developing genuineness and integrity? What should we be doing to keep watch over our souls? What actions will equip us to be the real deal? While many things could and should be said, we’ll highlight three.

1. Flee and Pursue

In the Pastoral Epistles, Paul penned some very practical words to help us answer these questions—words that, over the years, Jeremy and I have found ourselves returning to time and time again. Here we find the divine means whereby preachers can become men of integrity. We especially like Paul’s analogy of a great house (2 Tim. 2:20–21). In this house, which represents the church, are “vessels of gold and . . . wood and clay” (2 Tim. 2:20). The legitimate servant in God’s household—that is, the preacher who is the genuine article—is the one who sets himself apart as holy. Here’s how Paul encourages such a minister:

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. (2 Tim. 2:22–25)

Notice the commands by which preachers emerge as men with a positive ethos. We are told to “flee” some things and “pursue” others. Remember that the church in Ephesus, where Timothy was pastoring at the time when Paul wrote these verses, was one in which Timothy’s authority was being undermined by false teachers. As can be seen throughout 2 Timothy, men in his midst were leading others astray, rebelling against the truth like Korah of old rebelled against Moses (2 Tim. 2:16–19; cf. Num. 16). These were dishonorable men, men of wood and clay, preachers who would one day be disposed of—and rightly so.

But in contrast to them we have the admonition to Timothy, the description of the man who establishes himself as a worthy vessel, the man who makes himself ready for every good work. He does so by learning what to flee and what to pursue.

This couplet of fleeing and pursuing puts in motion how to cultivate everything needed for your calling. Attend to yourself. Learn the art and discipline of fleeing sin and pursuing Christ. In doing so, you will gain ground in the essential work of becoming a credible witness for Christ. It was Cicero, in another context, who put the truth this way: “If we bestow the faculty of eloquence upon persons destitute of these virtues, we shall not make them orators but give arms to madmen.”²

Our people must see that we really know him. Our demeanor must have the markings of genuine, Christlike humility.

2. Experience and Humility

John Stott was a seasoned preacher who commented further on the means that build a positive ethos. Here is what he had to say:

[The preacher] will need two special qualifications, experience and humility. By experience, I do not now mean experience of the preaching ministry, or of life in general, necessary as these are to the preacher. I mean rather a personal experience of Jesus Christ Himself. This is the first and indispensable mark of Christian witness. He cannot speak from hearsay.

If experience is one indisputable mark of a true Christian witness, humility is the other. Every preacher knows the insidious temptation to vainglory to which the pulpit exposes him. We stand there in a prominent position, lifted above the congregation, the focus of their gaze and the object of their attention. It is a perilous position indeed.³

Stott’s words remind us that what our people need from us is the same thing that establishes credibility for us: a deeply personal and vividly real relationship with Jesus, a genuine experience of him. Our people must see that we really know him. Our demeanor must have the markings of genuine, Christlike humility. While in the pulpit, we should be making much not of ourselves but of Jesus. He must increase. We must decrease. For when we do so, a positive ethos will begin to take root in our inner man. But more must be said on this subject.

3. A Good Conscience

Years ago Kent Hughes wrote,

The necessity of a clear conscience should loom planet-like on our horizons. Conscious disobedience will kill our spiritual life. . . . “A good conscience” is the mother of a sound faith and the wherewithal to wage “the good warfare.” This has been my experience. I can stand up to substantial pressure if my conscience is clear. But without a clear conscience, there is no power to endure or resist.⁴

These words from Hughes ring as true today as they did the first time he said them. We can be sure of this, that guarding a good conscience is what secures an authentic ministry.

The strength of the Scriptures backs up this reality. In 1 Timothy 1:5 Paul writes, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” In Acts 23:1 we read, “And looking intently at the council, Paul said, ‘Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.’ ” Standing before Felix, Paul said, “I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man” (Acts 24:16).

What we are trying to convey is simply this: You must cultivate a positive ethos in your person. You do so by learning what to pursue and what to flee, by having a genuine relationship with Jesus, and by cultivating humility and keeping a clear conscience.

Notes:

Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, trans. H. E. Butler (Harvard University Press, 1920; repr., Lyceum Institute, 2024), preface to bk. 1, https://lyceum.institute.
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On the Ideal Orator, trans. James M. May and Jakob Wisse (Oxford University Press, 2001), 3.55.
John Stott, The Preacher’s Portrait: Some New Testament Word Studies (Eerdmans, 1988), 70–71.
R. Kent Hughes, “Fighting the Good Fight,” in 1–2 Timothy and Titus: To Guard the Deposit, by R. Kent Hughes and Bryan Chappell, Preaching the Word (Crossway, 2012), 55.

This article is adapted from Persuasive Preaching by David R. Helm and Jeremy Meeks.

David R. Helm (MDiv, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) serves as senior pastor of Christ Church Chicago. He also serves as chairman of the board of directors for the Charles Simeon Trust, an organization that promotes practical instruction in preaching. He is the author of Expositional Preaching: How We Hear God’s Word Today; a contributor to Preach the Word: Essays on Expository Preaching; and the author of The Big Picture Story Bible and 1–2 Peter and Jude in the Preaching the Word commentary series.

Jeremy Meeks (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is the director and lead instructor of the Chicago Course on Preaching. He is also the resident pastor for ministry apprenticeships at Christ Church Chicago. He previously served as the director of Spanish-language initiatives for the Charles Simeon Trust.

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