(upbeat music) - Believe it or not, in seminary, John Piper got a C- in one of his preaching classes. Yes, a C-. It's hard to believe, but it's true. And he talked about it a few years back when he was asked where and how did he learn to preach.

Here's what he said. - Watching my dad when I was six, eight, 10, 12. Watching how not to do it in lots of places. Being unable to speak from grade five to my sophomore year in college, unable to speak in front of a group. I think I was learning to preach during that time.

Because I was so hurt, so wounded, so discouraged, so desperate that I had to go way down into God and way into scripture and way into pain. And God was making a preacher. I was shot in my mouth. You don't become an effective preacher by becoming loquacious and effective communicator at age 16.

You become a communicator, clever communicator, but you don't become a preacher of the holy things of God. So that was a piece. I don't know. The courses that I took on preaching were marginally, I got the lowest grade in seminary in my preaching class. I got a C minus, I think, in James Dane's preaching class at Fuller Seminary.

We never agreed on anything. Except the principle that every text should have, every sermon should have one point. He said that over and over again. So I made a terrible grade there. But there were other teachers that... I think the way I became a preacher was by being passionately thrilled by what I was seeing in the Bible in seminary.

Passionately thrilled. When Philippians began to open to me, Galatians opened to me, Romans opened to me, the Sermon on the Mount opened me in classes on exegesis, not homiletics, but exegesis, everything in me was feeling, I wanna say this to somebody. I wanna find a way to say this 'cause this is awesome.

This is incredible. So preachers today that go everywhere but the Bible to find something interesting or something scintillating and passionate, I don't get it. I don't get that at all. Because I have to work hard to leave the Bible and go somewhere to find an illustration because everything here is just blowing me away.

And it's that sense of being blown away by what's here, by the God that's here and the Christ that's here and the gospel that's here and the spirit that's here and the life that's here being blown away by this, just kind of say, that's gotta get out. That's gotta get out.

And then I suppose how it gets out, what is that? How it gets out, I don't know what that is. That's just the way I'm wired that I would say it a certain way and then it's owing to me being a lit major. That affects your language a little bit.

And goodness, a thousand things go into your life and nobody can copy anybody else. And I don't know. God makes us who we are. I don't think there's much you can do to become a preacher except know your Bible and be unbelievably excited about what's there and love people a lot.

And just wanna make the connection with people in what's there. - That was Pastor John Piper, who is home from his trip to the Middle East. And that means we will soon return with all new episodes. So please continue to email your questions into us at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org. You can visit us online at desiringgod.org to find thousands of books, articles, sermons, and other resources from John Piper, all free of charge.

I'm your host Tony Reinke, thanks for listening. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)