Sample Weekly Clarity Email

Preaching Problem



            You've seen the number by now.

            
            
              30%
              of Americans rate clergy as honest and ethical —
the lowest it has ever been.
            

            Thirty percent.

            It's the lowest it's ever been. And if you've been in ministry for more than a few years, you've felt it.

            Most of us chalk it up to cultural drift. Institutional scandals. A post-Christian moment that's bigger than any of us.

            And those things are real.

            But I want to suggest something that's probably harder for all of us to hear: Some of that trust problem is a preaching problem.

            Here's what I mean.

            Trust erodes around preaching in a few ways:

            
            
              1.When people feel confused: when they walk away from a sermon unsure of what just happened.
              2.When they sat through 40 minutes and couldn't tell you what it was about.
              3.When the preacher goes off course taking various rabbit trails, never quite tying everything together.
              4.When the preacher spends too much time attacking everyone and everything on opinion alone, never tying it to the depth of Scriptural meaning.
            

            These listeners walk away, not saying, "that sermon was unclear." Instead, they say, "I'm just not getting much out of church anymore." They say, "I don't know, it just doesn't connect." And eventually . . . they stop saying anything at all.

            They just leave.

            Quietly. Without a conversation. Without giving you a chance to fix it.

            
              The truth is that unclear preaching doesn't just fail to build faith. Over time, it quietly erodes trust. Not because the pastor is dishonest. Not because the theology is wrong. But because week after week, the message doesn't land, and people feel it even when they can't name it.
            

            Now here's the question I want you to sit with this week.

            Not "is the culture becoming more skeptical of pastors?" Honestly, we already know the answer to that.

            The question is: What is actually happening in my sermons?

            
            
              Sit With These This Week
              —Is there a clear point: one driving idea that everything else serves?
              —Does my congregation know, within the first few minutes, why this message matters to them today?
              —Could someone who was in the room on Sunday tell me, in one sentence, what the sermon was about?
            

            These aren't academic questions. They're integrity questions.

            And if the answer is no, you don't have a personality or gifting problem. And it's not evidence you're in the wrong calling.

            Instead, it's a clarity problem. The good news is that clarity is a learnable skill.

            The first 25 years of my own preaching, I struggled immensely with a clarity problem.

            My messages had decent content (at least that's what I tell myself), but they weren't clear. I can show you years of filed messages that all said many things without saying much of anything.

            Additionally, I've spent the last 16 years teaching on the Bible school and university level watching preachers get stuck at this exact point. Not for lack of effort. Not because they weren't called to preach. And not for lack of love for people.

            But because nobody ever sat with them and said: "here's specifically what's muddy, and here's how to fix it."

            That's what I'm pulling for you to have.

            Not a generic framework. Not another podcast about preaching.

            But a place where you can connect with preachers who have the same goal you do: to preach more clearly, communicate God's Word with greater confidence, improve in areas they feel least capable, and gain access to tools and coaching backed by extensive experience from someone who has assessed hundreds of sermons, knows what clarity looks like, and can tell you specifically what's working and what isn't in yours.

            That's what the Clear Preaching Academy is built around.

            
            
              Clear Preaching Academy  ·  Opens June 1
              If you've been feeling the weight of Sundays lately, or if you've been wondering whether your preaching is actually landing — this is the moment to find out.
              The Church needs more pastors and preachers who can be clearly understood.
              Founding member rate: $19/month  ·  First 50 preachers only
              👉 Get on the Waitlist
              Bonus: Every member gains access to one free Clarity Audit after joining.
            

            

            I'm pulling for you.
            — Jonathan

Below is an example of what you receive every week if you sign up for the Weekly Clarity email. Weekly encouragement, training, and ideas to come alongside what you are doing in the trenches every week! If this sounds like something that interests you, click the button below.

The Trust Problem Is a Preaching Problem

Here's what I mean.

Now here's the question I want you to sit with this week.

The first 25 years of my own preaching, I struggled immensely with a clarity problem.