What makes a good preacher?
How do you even measure that?
Perhaps you are a preacher. What do you think?
How do you see yourself as a preacher? This is an important question, because how a preacher sees his role shapes how he preaches.
Preachers I have known
1) The Lonely Prophet
Those who see themselves as such often justify their self-perception by appealing to such role models in Scripture as: Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10), Jeremiah (Jer 1:17-19), Ezekiel (Ezek 2:1-8, 3:4-11). They think that, because they are modelling themselves on a Scriptural character, the role they have taken on must be Scriptural.
But this is faulty logic. What if (say) a parent justified taking to disciplining little children with whips, because Jesus disciplined the moneychangers in the temple this way (John 2:15)?
Before adopting a role, one has to ask: Is the situation the same? The “lonely prophet” type may occasionally seem to fit the preacher’s role today, eg. when called upon to reprove a godless society, or a determinedly rebellious church. But, it doesn’t fit the picture of the New Testament preacher-pastor.
The ministry can be lonely at times (eg. Paul in 2 Tim 4:16); but that loneliness should not automatically be sheeted home to the “prophetic” aspects of the ministry. Sometimes you just get lonely.
Unfortunately the ministry can sometimes attract men with serious personality defects in this area, i.e. “loners” who can’t get on with others except at a superficial level, or who just can’t take correction. These find in the “prophetic” aspects of preaching ready made self-justification for what are (really) their own inadequacies. They readily see any disagreement (even on the part of godly peers) as rebellion against the Word of God.
The “lonely prophet” seeks to “proclaim” (cf. κηρύσσω = to be a herald, to proclaim, as in: “Preach the word!” 2 Tim 4:2). But he fails if he sees himself as being there simply to “proclaim”, to tell people what to do, without taking any responsibility to persuade his hearers to do it; it’s simply a matter of “take-it-or-leave-it.”
This type of preacher almost always evolves, in the end, into:
2) The Scolding Parent
The scolding-parent type of preacher usually begins with a strong (if misguided) sense of the prophetic nature of his ministry. And the more isolated he becomes from his hearers the more bombastic and/or sarcastic he tends to become.
His sermons start to degenerate into whining – a string of complaints against society, against slack Christians, and against his hearers. This inevitably increases his perception of “prophetic” loneliness; and the whole process snowballs.
This type of preacher tends to attract others who are disgruntled with anything and everything. Among his acolytes he may build up a reputation as “a powerful preacher”; but the sad reality is that he is only “preaching” to “the converted”.
Stuart Olyott warns:
Scolding is not usually the best way of persuading people to do something worthwhile. God’s Word has quite a lot to say about nagging women and none of it is positive! Faithful preachers are blunt about sin and equally blunt about the need of repentance, but, as men who care for people, they still prefer the carrot to the stick.[i]
3) The Disengaged Lecturer
Unlike the “lonely prophet” there is no Scriptural precedent that can even be superficially appealed to, to justify this type of “preaching”. The disengaged lecturer “preaches” as though he is giving a lecture. (Those with a background in a teaching profession, particularly at an academic level, especially need to beware.)
He may appeal to the “mind”, but there is little attempt to engage his hearers’ emotions or will, and hence he fails in the end to persuade. This may be because of character defects on his part in that he doesn’t engage with people normally anyway. Or perhaps the message hasn’t sufficiently transformed his own life for him to be radically persuaded of it himself.
In his teaching he may churn out the truth. But as he makes little or no connection with those he is preaching to, he will have little or no persuasive impact. As Warren Wiersbe puts it, he preaches “for the salvation of his sermon, not for the salvation of souls.”
4) The Mild Eccentric
Typically, this is the absent-minded professor type who appears a little eccentric. As time goes on, as likely as not, he will even work at his eccentricities – either to cover up his deficiencies in relating to people, or to avoid the angst that would come with the very real gospel-confrontational aspects of the message.
He may well be entertaining and thereby engage people – but it will only be with himself; he fails to engage people with the message.
Again this may be because he is not sufficiently persuaded of the message himself. Or, he may simply be covering up for the fact that he hasn’t properly prepared (either the material he preaches, or his own heart).
Once again, there are obvious personality hang-ups here, where a “preacher” is attracted to this model of preaching.
5) The Chatty Conversationalist
This “preacher” at least tries to engage his audience, but there is a lack of authority about what he is saying. One gets the feeling you can take it or leave it – and, either way, you’ll be no worse off.
Again, he may engage the audience with himself, but he fails to persuade them to change. He fails to instil a sense of the overwhelming importance of an other-worldly message, or to inspire reverence for an awesome God.
What is good preaching?
Many preachers measure how “good” a sermon is by how it has affected them.
Of course the message preached must first, and profoundly, affect the preacher if he is to communicate effectively.
But when it comes to the measure of a “good” sermon, the ultimate test is the effect it has had on those who are listening.
(True, this assumes the “listener” is a “good” listener – not one with “itching ears”, 2 Tim 4:3‑4. I don’t mean we should measure a “good” sermon by whether it appeals to someone like that.)
When you seek to evaluate your preaching/teaching, try and do so as a listener, rather than as a preacher.
What specifically, then, are you aiming at in preaching?
Our aim must be: TO PERSUADE MEN !
Notice how this is continually highlighted in the preaching of the apostles in the Book of Acts: See 13:43, 17:4-5, 18:4, 19:8, 26:28-29, 28:23-24.
Also, 2 Cor 5:11.
Looking at these examples we note that it was the aim of the apostles to “persuade” those who were already believers (eg. Acts 13:43), as well as those who were unbelievers to come to faith.
The preacher is there to “persuade”, not just to “proclaim”.
One of the most important books on preaching to come out in recent years has been Michael Fabarez’ “Preaching that Changes Lives”:
We, as pastor-teachers, need to focus on our call to preach messages that change lives. Our members need to know we are going to be faithful to that call whether they like it or not – and if they cooperate with the Holy Spirit, lives will change.
Throwing down this gauntlet means we can no longer evaluate our sermons solely on the basis of theological or exegetical soundness. It isn’t enough to drive home from church basking in self-congratulation because our outline was memorable, or because we were fluent and articulate. We must resist the temptation of instant gratification based on soundness of delivery, or even content. Instead, we must purpose to evaluate every sermon we preach in light of the biblical change it brings about in the lives of our congregants.[ii]
As noted above, this needs to be modified in view of the fact that, sometimes, when there is no observable change the fault should be sheeted home to the listeners rather than the preacher – and that does not necessarily mean the preaching was bad. A good preacher simply may not be heard, eg. see Isa 6:9-10, 29:13 (Matt 15:8), Ezek 33:30-32 etc.
Allowing for this (and, hopefully, in a good church this will not usually be so with the majority of hearers), we should then measure preaching according to whether it could be expected to bring about change among hearers – especially, among those who are believers who are living consistent lives.
This is NOT just my view, or even a new idea. John Stott quotes the Bishop of Chester (1646):
The chief end of an Orator is to persuade… And therefore that Preacher, who in his discourses does only flourish in general notions, and does not drive at some particular argument, endeavouring to press upon his auditory the belief or practice of some truth or duty, is like an unwise Fisher, who spreads his net to the empty air, where he cannot expect any success of his labours.[iii]
One can find similar sentiments in many other authors, ancient and modern.
The Goal of Our Persuasion
What are we trying to persuade men to do/be?
“[Christ] we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” (Col 1:27)
- “Persuasion” here is by means of “preaching.”
- What we preach is Christ.
- “Preaching Christ” is a comprehensive term. It doesn’t just mean focussing explicitly on the Person of Christ; it includes “warning” and “teaching” with “all wisdom.”
- Our ultimate goal in seeking to “persuade” men this way is to “present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”
If those who hear us don’t know Christ, our goal is to bring them to Christ:
“Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed.” (Acts 14:1)
If those who hear us already know Christ, our goal is to present them mature in Christ:
“He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Eph 4:11-13)
So:
What is a preacher?
We note that in Eph 4:11 (above), the “pastor and teacher” refers to the one and the same person.[iv]
This means, you can’t be an effective preacher if you are not an effective pastor. The man who wants the glory of the pulpit without the hard, sometimes heart-breaking, work of pastoring, is a liability; he should never be allowed in the pulpit. “I love preaching, but am not a pastor”, is a disaster waiting to happen.
Under normal circumstances, you will never persuade those that you do not engage with pastorally. Others will tune out when you preach, if they do not know you bear them on your heart.
It is now well over 50 years since I preached my first sermon. I am sure that, over that period, I evolved through some of the caricatures with which I began this post. But I have come to believe the ideal model of a preacher, in a New Testament church, is that of a SYMPATHETIC PERSUADER.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel may be great role models, if you are confronting a godless society or a rebellious church. But they are not role models for us as preacher-pastors in New Testament churches.
Look at Paul’s example, recorded for us in his own words, in Acts 20:18-35, how he says: “I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials… and taught you publicly and from house to house” etc.
Or his words in 1 Thes 2:7-11, “We were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us… as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children…”
This surely is not the picture of a lonely prophet, but of a sympathetic persuader.
When Paul gives a mandate to Timothy, in 2 Tim 4:1, “I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ: Preach the word!”, some read this only in the light of the prophetic nature of preaching as undertaken by a man sent by God.
But, when we examine that mandate more carefully, we see that it is really a challenge to go to men and women (who are just like yourself), to persuade them of the truth.
Notice how Paul goes on (v 2) to tell Timothy how he is to do this: “Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” – all of which suggest seeking sympathetically and patiently to persuade another to change.
Fabarez comments on this passage:
Paul crystallizes Timothy’s command to “preach the word” with the clarifying verbs convince, rebuke and exhort.
The Greek word elencho, translated “convince” or “reprove”, is used by Jesus in Matthew 18:15 to explain how to point out a brother’s sin and move him to change his behaviour. Jesus said to “go and tell him his fault (elencho),” that is, “go to show him his sin and summon him to repentance”…
The second clarifying word Paul uses is the word epitimao, translated “rebuke.” This word also focuses on the change of behaviour Timothy should expect in the lives of his hearers. Lexicographers define the word as speaking or warning “in order to prevent an action or bring one to an end”…
Paul employs a third word, parakaleo, to describe the preaching event often translated “exhort”, “urge”, or “beseech.” Though the use of this word is broad in the New Testament, in this context it complements the previous two verbs while conveying an intensity not communicated by them. This is implied in Paul’s use of the word in I Timothy 1:3, Ephesians 4:1, Romans 12:1. In each case it’s obvious that Paul expects the act of preaching to make a distinct difference in the lives of those who hear.[v]
Note also that, earlier in this epistle (2 Tim 2:24-26), Paul has told Timothy:
“A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able-to-teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”
This comes closest, I believe, to the role of preacher-pastor that we see in the New Testament, as exemplified in the ministry of Paul, and in particular that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is far from the “prophetic” take-it-or-leave-it approach.
To learn to preach like this requires a person to be:
- spiritually mature
- not concerned with “image”
- convinced of the gospel message – you can’t persuade others of something you are not persuaded of yourself.
- sympathetic (or, compassionate) – why take the trouble to persuade others if you don’t care for them?
“Preach the word!
Be ready in season and out of season.
Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”
[i] Stuart Olyott Preaching Pure and Simple Bryntirion Press 2005, p.12 [ii] Michael Fabarez Preaching that Changes Lives Thomas Nelson 2002 p.9 [iii] John Stott Between Two Worlds Eerdmans 1994 p.249 [iv] “The one function includes the other… The two functions could not be kept separate. The whole theory [separating the two functions] rested on a false interpretation of Scripture. The absence of the article before διδασκάλους proves that the apostle intended to designate the same persons as at once pastors and teachers… Pastors and teachers, therefore, must be taken as a two-fold designation of the same officers, who were at once the guides and instructors of the people.” Charles Hodge, commenting on Eph 4:11 [v] Michael Fabarez Preaching that Changes Lives Thomas Nelson 2002 p.8