I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine that teaches Sunday school. We were discussing what was harder, preaching a sermon or teaching a Sunday school class.
His contention was that preaching was harder because you had to command every one's attention for 30-40 minutes, up front, all alone, without any interaction with others.
I felt that teaching was harder then preaching for several reasons. When you teach, you can have others take you on a tangent and it is sometimes hard to get back focused on the lesson. Also, when you teach, people can ask you questions. Some questions can certainly help clarify some of the points you are wanting to make, while others may just distract you completely from your points. And, the worst part of taking questions is getting the question you don't know the answer to. Where as if you are preaching a sermon, no one gets to ask you questions. Whatever God directs you to say and what you have researched and thought out, you get to say without interruption or having to worry about not knowing an answer.
So, to me, I still think teaching is harder then preaching. But, in the end, if God truly calls you to be a preacher or a teacher, he will equip you with what you need to be successful.
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When I was an administrator in a Christian school, I observed a couple of preachers transition to classroom teachers. I doubt that they would say preaching is harder than teaching in that environment. I respect both and there are trade-offs, but it does amuse me when preachers who preach the same identical sermon 3-4 times on Sun. feel that it is such a wipe-out job when teachers teach 4-6 classes DAILY, often with different preparations. When everything is weighed together, I think there is a comparable balance--just differences in administration. Grateful that God calls and equips each.
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