The Need for Sermon Evaluation
Authentic preaching is responsible for its place in the total Christian community. It belongs not only to the preacher, but also to the congregation. It reflects the memory and expectation of the people of God in times past and in times present. It is rooted in the Word and standing in the world. True preaching steps onto the bridge between the mundane and the majestic, between mud and stars, and, recognizing the awesome mystery of the preached Word, dares to speak for God.
The quality of mystery referred to by Jesus regarding new birth also applies to preaching: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Because the vital center of preaching, that interaction between Word and congregation, is fraught with mystery, it cannot be wholly captured and defined by any sort of measurement. It is therefore important to recognize the limitations of our tests in evaluating preaching.
Ten Tests
Is the Sermon Faithful to the Biblical Witness? Some sermons that begin with a lesson, employ biblical language, and quote verses fail to recognize God in the Old Testament and God in Christ in the New Testament as the chief actor. Other sermons employ biblical words but neglect biblical meanings. Such sermons are not truly biblical. Again, there are sermons without any biblical text and that use little biblical language and yet remain centered on the memories and expectations of the people of God, who are central to the witness of Scriptures. They, despite neglecting the Bible as the common language of the church, may be biblically faithful.
Has the Scripture Passage Been Allowed to Speak Its Own Message? Because of the limitations of time and circumstances related to preaching, not every facet of a text and not every possible interpretation can be addressed. A preacher is necessarily selective. It is essential, therefore, that the first step in preparing a sermon involves listening to the text. The text must speak its own witness to the issue it chooses to address. The preacher cannot assume he or she has a clearer understanding of life and truth than the text. The preacher must resist imposing his or her ideas on the text. It is not the preacher’s responsibility to defend the text or to make it relevant. The preacher must let the text speak.
Does the Sermon Address Some Ultimate and Urgent Need? True preaching is not offered to satisfy the need for a sermon or simply to retell old truths. It addresses some contemporary issue and need. This need may be part of the fabric of the human situation in all generations. Such an issue should be critically important and real. The preacher should ask, “What concern or problem is addressed?” “Is it ultimately important?” “Can it be expressed in concrete realism?” Preaching that is authentic does not seem “long ago and far away,” but wrestles with vital issues relevant to the first century and to the twentieth century.
Is the Sermon Thoughtful and Informed? Irrational and intellectually dishonest preaching is not true preaching. The preacher dares not avoid the tests of reason. Many sermons, ignoring the discipline of an intellectual pursuit and questioning of facts, offer sweeping generalities that claim too much. No preacher knows everything that experts know about any given subject, but the preacher’s thoughts should be clearly reasonable and the sermon information correct. It may be summed up this way: the sermon must be accurate, but not academic; rational, yet more than rational.
Does the Sermon Encourage the Spontaneous Flight of Mood and Feeling? In every important conversation and encounter there is feeling. True preaching does not flee from emotion but recognizes the heat and power that may weld the Word into one’s very life. While true religious experience does not depend on how one “feels” about it, there is yet inherent in it both joy and tears. True preaching is not only emotional, but gives attention to the counsel of the apostle Paul: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Ask of the sermon, “Is it emotional?” Then ask, “Is it only emotional?”
Does the Preacher Offer Anything of Himself or Herself? To be authentically present in communication is to offer one’s own witness, and all witness involves risk. True preaching dares to say what the preacher has seen, heard, felt, and known. Such witness involves risk. It is safer, but poorer, to offer preaching that only reports the hearsay and common talk of others.
Does the Sermon Faithfully Present Both Judgment and Grace? Preaching often tends to be almost wholly negative and judgmental. It begins with a description of the ills of society and proceeds to catalogue the sins of the people. This scolding, carping criticism of the world and all that is in it (including the church) has little to do with authentic good news. When sermons only moralize, only criticize, only sound the “ain’t it awful” complaints of a preacher, only suggest what “ought to be” and “ought not to be,” there is no authentic saving word.
Moreover, when a disregard for all values and moral claims allows the preacher to offer easily and cheaply the gift of grace, true preaching does not occur. The preacher must test the message and ask, “Does it offer both the claim and the promise? Both judgment and mercy?”
Is the Preaching Forthright, Candid, and Bold? There is an authority and confidence in true preaching that does not say “perhaps,” “maybe,” “it seems,” or such. There is no uncertain sound about true preaching. Preaching of the gospel is proclamation with clarity and candor. Therefore, the preacher takes counsel—chiefly with one’s own beliefs, slowly with one’s own doubts—and lets timidity be replaced by boldness. Carlyle Marney counsels preachers, “You’re not asked to be right, you’re asked to be forthright.”
Is the Preached Word Caring, Responsive, and Faithfully Dialogical? The first responsibility of a preacher is to listen: to listen to the witness of Scripture and tradition, and to listen to what is being said and shouted, moaned, cried, sighed, and jeered in all the experiences of the men and women one is called to serve. After listening, the preacher may dare to speak but faces the requirement that the preaching be dialogical. This is not to suggest a “talk back” session after the sermon. It means being part of a lived-out conversation. The preacher does not simply hand out answers and make pronouncements from “up there” but, knowing that God is in the midst, strives for the meeting of meaning between Word and world. True preaching does not swing the authoritative club to bring the congregation into submission. The prophetic word, when spoken, is offered through tears and with caring.
Is the Sermon for All the People? Many sermons are so parochial and nearsighted that they fail to have the breadth of witness that addresses every man and every woman. They speak only to the interests and needs of the local and immediate situation. Preaching that tends to be a private affair is not authentic preaching. Recognizing that “God so loved the world” and that the great commission is to “go into all the world,” true preaching finds its point of contact in a local and concrete situation and yet remains fully conscious of God’s children everywhere.
The Lay Person’s Tests of Good Preaching
In conclusion, the three tests that are most frequently listed by laypersons as their criteria for evaluating preaching are: (1) Does the preacher offer anything of himself or herself? (This usually is expressed in such terms as, “Is the preacher sincere? Does the preacher really believe what is being said?”) (2) “Is it faithful to the Scriptures?” (3) Is it related to some real-life need or concern? These three criteria are not new (nor are the others), but they have continuing merit in setting the standards for true preaching.