Boldness in and out of the pulpit

Tim Bayly has been writing about pulpit persona in a couple of recent essays at BaylyBlog. The first one included this assessment:

When a man steps into the pulpit and adopts a different tone of voice, vocabulary, and syntax than he uses with his flock and family the rest of the week, he's either a pompous ass all the time, or he has displaced God's glory with his own, and his flock will leave the sanctuary hungry still.

Mr. Bayly's follow-up post is more nuanced but no less insightful:

Evangelicals expect our pastors to be bold in the pulpit. We expect them to bark. We expect them to speak out against the evils of Hollywood and liberalism and Gay Marriage and Alcohol and Gambling and even Planned Parenthood. But all of that is safe. Preachers are willing to say hard things as long as they are hiding behind the insulation of the pulpit. After all, it is what we pay them to do: make us feel bold because our pastor is willing to be bold in the pulpit. . . .

Of course, pulpit boldness without in-person boldness is not bold at all. It is tremendously safe. It gives a pastor what he wants: a soothed conscience without the discomfort of "meddling."

Amen. So how should a preacher carry himself both in and out of the pulpit? As Mr. Bayly concludes, "Is it appropriate for him to be urgent and intense and vibrant and bold? Absolutely. But only if he is all of these things in person."

HT: Expository Thoughts