Preaching Matters for Pastoral Excellence
In an age of multimedia, sound-bite communication and short attention spans, a preacher standing before a congregation and delivering a 20-minute sermon seems to be an anachronism, a relic from a culture long left behind. Does preaching really matter in today’s church and world?
According to an article in this edition of the SPE newsletter and website, a study at the Center for Excellence in Congregational Leadership is answering that question with a resounding “yes.”
“Preaching matters deeply to listeners,” the article says.
That good news is certainly consistent with the comments and requests that I as a bishop used to receive from local congregations. Again and again, local congregations told me that preaching certainly mattered to them. One of the most-desired qualities lay people want in their pastors is strong preaching. Whenever congregations asked me to transfer a pastor, “poor preaching” was one of the most frequently cited reasons.
However, definitions of “good” and “poor” preaching varied considerably. Apparently not all preaching matters in the lives of those who hear the sermons. Here are a few of the negative comments I used to receive from laity regarding preaching:
- “The preaching I hear week after week is so trite, superficial and boring that it makes no difference in my life.”
- “The sermons are nothing more than common sense advice about how to be happy.”
- “Our preacher really makes us think and I leave church saying to myself, ‘I’ll think about that.’ But the preacher doesn’t expect me to do anything about it.”
- “There seems to be a disconnect between our pastor’s preaching and his own life. I’m not sure he believes what he preaches.”
- “The sermons don’t seem to matter to the preacher, so why should they matter to us?”
On the other hand, many laity spoke favorably of their pastor’s preaching and affirmed the difference good sermons can make:
- “Our pastor takes preaching seriously, and he is always well-prepared.”
- “The sermons seem to flow from our pastor’s heart and life. She really embodies what she preaches.”
- “The sermons and the worship services seem to always fit together, and the whole service is a sermon.”
- “I always feel that I am in the presence of God when our pastor preaches and that I am hearing a Word from the Lord.”
- “Our pastor loves us and her sermons show it. She takes our problems and needs seriously and helps us deal with them in light of the Gospel.”
During my 12 years evaluating, supervising and deploying pastors, the three qualities that congregations undergoing a change in leadership most commonly wanted in a new pastor were love and care for people, understanding of commitment to the Gospel, and strong preaching. These three qualities are not separate and distinct traits, but are integral to each other. They come together in the “foolishness of proclamation” as the pastor stands before the congregation week after week.
Preaching that matters is done by pastors who embody the gospel they proclaim. Authenticity is at the heart of transformative preaching. Carl Patton once said, “The making of a sermon is the making of a [person].” The personhood of the preacher is integral to the sermon. Sermons grow out of the personal qualities and contexts of the preacher.
Phillips Brooks defined preaching as “truth expressed through personality,” and Harry Emerson Fosdick warned, “The best sermons ever written can be murdered by a preacher spiritually unqualified to present it.” Preachers preach out of who they are. Angry preachers preach angry sermons; depressed preachers preach depressing sermons; shallow preachers preach trite sermons; manipulative preachers preach manipulative sermons.
Because we always communicate on various levels, sermons often reveal more about the preacher than what the preacher verbalizes. One local church contingency came to their bishop to express concern about their pastor. “Our pastor seems to be angry with us all the time,” the spokesperson said. “Even when he talks about God’s love it feels like he is disappointed that God loves us.” Further investigation and evaluation revealed long-standing, unresolved hurt and anger that was spilling over in his preaching and countering his verbal message.
Preaching, therefore, requires self-awareness and authenticity on the part of the preacher, self-awareness and authenticity rooted in and formed by grace. Self-understanding and self-acceptance require continuous openness to one’s own needs in the light of the gospel and practices that form us in accordance with the Gospel.
Preaching that matters is inseparable from love and care for people, and love grows from the depth of who we are. Transformative preaching comes from preachers whose relationship with others is grounded in God’s love incarnate in Jesus Christ. Such love frees us to honestly confront our own inadequacies and needs and to reach out to others in non-manipulative acceptance and compassion. Compassionate preachers preach loving sermons.
Knowledge of and commitment to the Gospel is foundational for preaching that matters. People want to know God and to experience the presence of God. Preaching, I fear, has become a marketing tool for a consumerist church. Too many sermons are motivated by and directed toward institutional promotion and meeting the self-identified needs of consumers of self-fulfillment and success.
Preaching that transforms communities and individuals points to the present and coming reign of God, a reign of compassion, justice, peace, generosity, joy and hope. Theology trumps psychology and marketing as the foundational resource. Inviting and nurturing people in the New Creation in Christ Jesus is the telos of transformative preaching.
Does preaching matter? Here is the Apostle Paul’s answer:
“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:21).
Kenneth L. Carder is the Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke Divinity School. He was bishop of the Mississippi Area of the United Methodist Church from 2000 to 2004 and the Nashville Area of the UMC from 1992 to 2000.
