Advice from Chuck Swindoll

Chuck Swindoll is a legend in Orange County as he pastored EV Free Fullerton in Fullerton, Ca for over 3 decades (1971-1994). He went onto be President of Dallas Seminary in Texas and now Pastors Stonebridge Community Church in Frisco, Texas at the age of 76. Christianity Today and Preaching Today named him one of the 50 most influential preachers in the last 50 years in 1996.

I have always admired Chuck's style of preaching and commitment to God's word and personal integrity. Interestingly enough one of Swindoll's greatest influences on me came through one of his mistakes. One night as I was driving on the 405 Fwy in Los Angeles after returning from visiting my then girlfriend, (now wife Marie!) at her work in Santa Monica, I was listening to Swindoll preach on the radio. As he preached, he accidentally had a slip of the tongue and pronounced a word wrong (I can't remember the word but it was funny).

The audience chuckled and Chuck stopped his sermon and asked them what they were laughing about. Someone in the crowd responded and Chuck let out a huge belly laugh and laughed at himself as he realized his mispronounced mistake.

This moment really impacted me as I listened to a preacher who was not afraid to laugh at himself or his mistake in front of a large crowd. At that time in my life as a young youth pastor, I demanded perfection from myself when preaching and I was wound really tightly, beating myself up for days when a sermon didn't go well or the audience didn't respond how I had hoped.

Swindoll's simple act of laughing at himself in the pulpit really taught me to not take myself to seriously when preaching and to relax and simply allow God to use me and my imperfections.
I recently came across a quote from Swindoll that reminded me of this lesson I learned from him from years ago...

"Don't waste your time trying to be someone who you are not," he said. "I did it for years and regret it all. It took me a long time to quit imitating others and allow the Lord to work through me, the way he made me."
-Chuck Swindoll
(quote taken from C. Micheal Patton's blog)