Preaching to Make Disciples: A Conversation on the Purpose of Preaching

Paul’s Ponderings Interview | July 2025

In this post (which is a ChatGPT interview) I reflect on how preaching fits into the mission of making disciples. It made me ponder what makes preaching effective—not just as a Sunday event, but as a formative part of lifelong discipleship.

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ChatGPT: When did you first begin to understand that preaching wasn’t just about teaching or inspiring, but about making disciples? What shifted in your thinking?

Paul:
I always connected preaching to discipleship—honestly, I thought it was the main part of discipleship in the local church. But a shift began when I read a quote from Dallas Willard:

“If the steady, longtime faithful devotees to our ministries are not transformed in the substance of their lives to the full range of Christlikeness, they are being failed by what we are teaching them.” (The Spirit of the Disciplines, p. 18)

That quote hit me hard. It helped me see two things. First, preaching and teaching alone aren’t enough for true spiritual formation. People also need help applying the message—and that’s where spiritual disciplines come in.

Second, my preaching needed to include action steps. That’s why I started clearly stating the “big idea” and offering a “challenge” people could apply each week. Ultimately, I had to let go of the idea that just giving people the right information was enough. Discipleship requires helping them live it out.

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ChatGPT: What role does preaching uniquely play in the discipleship process—compared to things like small groups, Bible studies, or one-on-one mentoring?

Paul:
I believe the unique role of preaching is to give people a weekly opportunity to make a decision.

Yes, I know that most people forget the sermon by Tuesday. In fact, I forget most of the sermons I’ve heard! But there’s a cumulative effect to sitting under good preaching. It becomes a spiritual discipline that shapes us over time.

Every week, I want to create a space where people can respond to what God is saying. That’s why I include a time of Prayer Response after the sermon—with an invitation to see me to ask questions, to make a commitment to follow Jesus, and to pray silently using prayer prompts.

Preaching isn’t mainly about giving new information (that’s the role of teaching). It’s about calling people to make a decision in their discipleship journey.

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ChatGPT: What have you learned over the years about preaching in a way that actually leads to transformation—not just agreement? What makes the difference between a message that’s merely heard and one that shapes someone’s life?

Paul:
Honestly, a lot depends on the individual preacher. When I was younger, I tried to mimic the styles of preachers I admired. But I had to learn to be true to who God created me to be.

That said, two things really make a difference: passion and preparation.

I need to feel passionate about what I’m preaching—that’s why I prepare the sermon the week I preach it. I just can’t do it weeks in advance. I have to be in the text and in the moment to preach it from the heart.

But passion without preparation isn’t enough. We have to handle Scripture well. That means spending time reading, meditating, praying, and using solid study tools. I want to understand what the original audience would have heard so I can faithfully apply it today.

When a preacher is clearly invested—heart and mind—the congregation notices. That’s when preaching starts to move from noise to transformation.

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ChatGPT: How does your approach to sermon planning and series design reflect your desire to make disciples? What factors do you consider when deciding what to preach next?

Paul:
For me, preaching is about opening the Scriptures for people. I take 2 Timothy 3:16–17 seriously. Scripture is what God gave us to equip and train His people. So even when I do topical series, each sermon is grounded in a single text.

Right now, I’m committed to preaching through books of the Bible. I believe that in doing so, we naturally encounter the full range of human experience and the central themes of the Christian faith.

For example, preaching through Jude allowed me to focus on faith and the message of the Gospel. Preaching through Nahum opened the door to talk about God’s justice, covenant, and the tension between His goodness and judgment.


So when I plan a series, I think about:

• What Scripture passages can help shape us?

• What themes or doctrines does the congregation need to engage with?

• How does this help form disciples?

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ChatGPT: What do you most hope your congregation experiences through your preaching—not just in the moment, but over the long haul of their discipleship?

Paul:
Two things: truth and hope.

I want them to experience the truthfulness of Scripture—not as a dusty old book, but as the living, revealing Word of God. I want them to see that it speaks into their lives and helps them live faithfully in this world.

And I want them to experience the hope of the resurrection. That’s the core of Christianity. Because Jesus rose, we can live with confidence, knowing King Jesus will return and make all things right.

This hope gives us strength to keep going when life is hard. It helps us remain faithful when the path of discipleship is steep. Long-term discipleship needs that kind of hope—and I want my preaching to cultivate it.

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ChatGPT: If you could give one piece of advice to pastors who want their preaching to make disciples—not just attenders—what would it be?

Paul:
Here’s my advice: “Remember that the core mission of the Church is to make disciples.”

We’re not called to give inspirational speeches or life tips. We’re called to preach to make disciples.

That means, first and foremost, preaching Scripture. Open the Bible. Help people understand it. Give them the truth the Holy Spirit can use to transform their lives.

And second—prepare well. Know the text. Do the work. If we want to feed the flock, we need to know the food we’re giving them.


Final Thought:

Preaching isn’t about being impressive. It’s about being faithful. If we commit to opening God’s Word with clarity, passion, and purpose, we give people what they need to grow—not just in knowledge, but in Christlikeness.

Being a Persuader

Part of my job is to persuade people.

That is what I seek to do when I preach or when I teach (yes, there is a difference, but that is for another post). I want to convince people that there is a change the need to make in their lives.

This is not an easy task. 

If I had to base it on percentages, I would guess more often than not I fail to persuade people the way that I should. Yes, they may leave agreeing with what I said, but they won’t be led to make in changes in their lives.

At the end of August Michael Malice tweeted this:

I have pondered this thought off and on since then.

Here are a few of the thoughts I have had about persuasion.

First, persuasion happens when a person is ready to make a change. That is what happened to me when I shifted away from a standard Rush Limbaugh conservative Republican worldview to a libertarian/Christian anarchist worldview. It was 2008 and I noticed more and more inconsistencies with what the Republicans were doing and the limited government beliefs I was told Republicans had. I remember a phone conversation I had with my brother when I told him about my frustration and he said, “Check out this guy named Ron Paul.” I did and the rest is history.

That change happened because I was ready to make a change.

Second, persuasion is easier when there is a trusted relationship. All my brother had to say was, “Check out Ron Paul,” and because of our relationship I did it. This means a good relationship is an important part of being able to persuade another person. When you trust the other person you are more likely to listen to what they have to say.

Persuaders need to do what they can to build relationships with people.

Third, there needs to be a level of expertise involved. It is hard to persuade people when a quick Google search reveals the holes in an argument. Two people who have influenced me intellectually have been Tom Woods and N. T. Wright. Part of the reason is I accepted their arguments is because of a level expertise they bring to their work. That helps me trust what they have to say

Persuaders need to demonstrate that they have a good understanding of the subject they are talking about.

Fourth, persuasion is a journey. More than likely, the beliefs you hold didn’t magically develop overnight. Rather, the came into place over a period of time as different influences shaped those beliefs. We can’t expect people to take they same journey that we took in the course of a single conversation or a 30 minute sermon. We need to be willing to take people along one step at a time. In my early days of being a libertarian I was quite obnoxious, everything seemed so clear to me, and I thought if I could just be loud enough people would see it too. Big mistake.

Persuasion takes time as we walk people through the process of changing their mind.

Fifth, persuasion takes integrity. When we see that the person lives what they believe, it helps us to listen to them. In college, my Christian Ethics professor’s wife had Alzheimer’s Disease. He brought her to class  each day. The way he treated her made an impression on the group of friends I was a part of and we all talked about having that level of love for our wives someday. He influenced us because he lived the Christian life that he taught.

Persuaders need to have integrity. Nothing causes a person to loose influence faster than discovering that he/she doesn’t live what they teach.

If you want to persuade people to make a change in their lives, take some time to think about that process. Persuading is not as easy as it sounds, but it is worth the effort to figure out.