Martin Lloyd Jones famously said that the most urgent need in the Christian Church is true preaching. And since it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the church, it’s obviously the greatest need in the world too. True biblical preaching requires faithful handling of God’s word. Faithful preachers are those who, as Mark Dever puts it, make “the main point of the passage to be the main point of their sermon.” True preaching is hard work, and it requires that preachers continue learning and growing in their craft. Part of the development in preaching is making mistakes and correcting them.
We can learn from the mistakes and experiences of others.
The goal is not perfection, but faithfulness in handling the text. In turn, we make progress. Every preacher could tell you numerous stories about the mistakes they’ve made, while learning the art of preaching. In so doing, they can also tell you of the progress they have made. Sometimes we learn from the mistakes and experiences of others. So I would like to share with you 10 mistakes I’ve made as a preacher, with the hope that you would learn from them and make progress.
1. Preaching Indicatives Without Imperatives
One of the most helpful pointers I was given for preaching is making sure you answer both the “what” and the “so what” questions. Biblical preaching states the truth of scripture (the what) and then applies that truth to the listeners (the so what).
When we proclaim the Bible, we mustn’t leave listeners asking: ‘so what?’
Too many sermons become a “data dump” of biblical and theological truth, without showing its implications for the Christian life. Even the authors of the Bible, had a “therefore” in their writing. Christian doctrine is meant to be applied and lived out. When we proclaim what the Bible says, we mustn’t leave listeners asking: “so what?”
2. Preaching Your Framework
When we lead with a theological framework, we impose our meaning onto the text.
Another mistake I constantly made was to approach a text with my particular framework in mind. Frameworks are systems of theology or particular topics that are of interest to a preacher. There was a year, I was drinking in everything ecclesiology. Invariably, I approached every text through the lens of ecclesiology. And I didn’t even realise it. A member approached me one day and said, “you know, every sermon and every bible study we are doing as a church is about ecclesiology.”
Frameworks are not necessarily always bad in themselves. But when we lead with the framework, we impose our meaning onto the text, rather than allowing the text to be king.
3. Preaching to an Imaginary Congregation
Those of us who preach have role models that we learn from. And the internet has made it possible to learn the art of preaching from preachers around the world. One unfortunate outcome of this is the temptation to address every issue your preaching hero is addressing in their congregation, even though it is contextual.
You end up preaching to a congregation in your head, rather than yours.
So, you end up preaching to a congregation in your head, rather than the congregation before you. You wax eloquently addressing matters that are relevant in Detroit, Michigan, but are not relevant in Wusakile, Kitwe. You are preaching, alright. But to a congregation you wished you had, rather than the congregation you have.
4. Ignoring Some Members of the Congregation
One Sunday evening, a lady in the church approached me and thanked me for the message in the morning service. Then she mentioned how I made application for her and her husband, but said nothing for the children. That was helpful feedback. The congregation has a diverse group of people, in different seasons of life and at different stages.
It’s important then that the preacher applies the word to everyone in the congregation and doesn’t neglect some members of it.
5. Not Connecting to the Gospel
Jesus Christ is the central theme of the biblical narrative (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus himself claimed that all scripture points to him (Luke 24:44-48). Therefore faithful preaching makes legitimate connections to the gospel; to the life, work, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.
It is like a doctor giving a diagnosis without a prescription.
Preaching that does not connect to the gospel ends up being moralistic. It tells people what’s wrong with them, without offering God’s solution. This kind of preaching is angry and hopeless. Angry because the preacher gets frustrated with people’s failures, so he shouts at them; hopeless because he thinks harder and louder preaching is what will get them to change, when our Lord Jesus is our only hope in life and death. It is like a doctor giving a diagnosis without a prescription. Moralistic preaching creates a legalistic community.
6. Missing the Context
One mantra in studying and understanding the Bible, is that context is king. Every text addressed an original audience. So every text has circumstances in which it was written. Every text also has a literary context, there are verses before or after. There is also the context of the entire Bible. A preacher must ensure that he’s aware of these contexts in order to understand the meaning of the text.
Preaching that ignores that context will invariably mishandle the passage.
A failure to understand the context, will result in either abuse (those who deliberately ignore the context) or mishandling (those who are ignorant of it). Jeremiah 29:11, for instance, may sound like a good passage to preach health and wealth. But context will tell you that the audience was in captivity, remaining in exile for the next 70 years. Preaching that ignores that context will invariably mishandle the passage.
7. Unrealistic Expectations of What a Sermon Can Accomplish
When I was just starting to preach regularly, I had unrealistic expectations concerning what my sermons would accomplish. I used to think that all I have to do is preach a sermon about an issue and there’d be instant transformation. And when my sermons didn’t result in instant revival my frustrations grew. I didn’t know why people weren’t getting it.
Preachers should expect God to do a great work. Only they must also preach for the long haul.
But having such expectations is like a parent who expects their child to grow up instantly, after just one meal. We read in the Bible that we should desire milk like new born babes (1 Peter 2:2). After a while, Christians must be able to chew on meat (Hebrews 5:11-14). Thus spiritual maturity is the result of continuous exposure to the word of God. Preachers should expect God to do a great work. Only they must also preach for the long haul.
8. Making Yourself the Hero of the Sermon
Those who preach face the temptation of having an assumed holiness. Such assumptions come from the wrong notion that because you have preached it you’ve lived it. But it is possible to teach truth and be far from it. And it is easy for preachers to set themselves up as the standard of holiness.
Preachers must be examples. But they aren’t the standard. Christ is.
Now, granted, preachers must be examples. But they aren’t the standard. Christ is. It is easy to be the hero of your own stories, bragging about how a great husband or father you are. Or about your prowess in evangelism, or how you are a prayer warrior. Ironically it is even possible to be proud of your humility. Preachers must point people to Christ.
9. Ignoring the Emphasis of the Text
One of the principles of sermon preparation is that every passage has a structure that reveals emphasis. This emphasis should give shape to the sermon. One common mistake in preaching is ignoring the text’s structure, therefore missing the author’s emphasis. So, it is possible to say the right thing from the wrong passage, because you ignore the author’s argument and the emphasis of the text.
It’s possible to say the right thing from the wrong passage.
Sermons that ignore the structure and emphasis of a text will often sound like running commentaries on each verse or a lecture on systematic theology that merely uses a text as a launch pad.
10. Poor Arguments and Adornments
During one Sunday lunch my dear wife asked, “what were you trying to say today?” So I proceeded to explain my sermon, with much vigour. After that, she replied, “You should have said that.” In my second year as a regular preacher a young lady showed me her notebook with sermon notes. Then she remarked, “most of them don’t have titles, because you never state your titles clearly.” Last year, my wife insisted that I begin writing out my introductions in full.
All of those conversations highlight a problem of not skilfully crafting and properly organising my sermons, in a way that makes them clear and compelling.
Learn From Your Mistakes and Make Progress
Preachers, like everyone else, need to make progress. For this to take place they need humility, constructive feedback and the desire to be faithful. They also need a commitment to continue learning from and with others. May Paul’s admonition be true of every preacher, “let your progress be evident all” (1 Timothy 4:15).
