Sermon Evaluation

It probably goes without saying that personal sermon evaluation is one of the hardest disciplines to grasp. I identify with what my friend Rick (Holland) has often said, “after many sermons I feel ready to resign promising myself never to preach again.” A litany of questions flood the mind after delivering a sermon: Did I preach Christ with clarity? Did I clearly set-forth the meaning of God’s Word? Did I balance strong exhortation with loving encouragement? Did I leave the flock hungry or did I fill their plates? Questions abound and multiply.

To be sure I am convinced that there is a way in which a preacher can live that disqualifies him from ever preaching again (cf. 1 Cor.9:27, a topic for a later post). In short I believe this is a reflection of what he cultivates in his heart on a regular basis (whether holy or hellish). For added measure, no preacher should be without a shared accountability wherein brothers in Christ are provided free access to his “hidden life.”

However, I believe such accountability should extend to a pastor’s preaching as well. I realize many will disagree with what I’m about to say but I see the benefits of having men around me who will give me honest feedback about my preaching. I have seen pastors who surround themselves with “yes” men who never truly experience the sharpening process of shared leadership. In my church it is my fellow elders who give me this feedback. They do so with love, patience and carefully measured words. One of my elders prayed for three months before he shared a particular concern with me and my life is richer for it.

I often think back to seminary days where we would have the torture device known as “preaching labs” whereby fellow students and an instructor would provide feedback on sermons we preached in their midst. The “advice” would often range from silly to the truly helpful. However now I have a real preaching lab that is conducted every Sunday morning in real time with real people (btw: seminary students are not real people). What better place to measure progress and growth for the preacher. Here are a few thoughts that may be helpful and I would love to hear your feedback on this:

• Take time to evaluate a couple of messages at each elder’s meeting. Ask hard questions and listen to everything that is said without getting into a defensive posture or argument.
• Meet with younger men in the ministry and let them help you pick apart your sermon over breakfast. These are the guys who are filled-up with theology and lots of reading, if they didn’t get your sermon then few others probably did.
• Go to thoughtful and trusted laymen and ask them how they are growing through the pulpit ministry. Ask them what you can do to be more effective as a communicator and teacher of the Word. Do you have any bad habits that make listening difficult or distract?
• Here’s a hard one: do you preach too long (or too short)? Good and godly men disagree on the “how long” question. Piper rarely preaches past thirty minutes and MacArthur has rarely preached under an hour. I recently came to grips with the fact that I just preach far too long more often than not. There is nothing holy about wearing people out beyond what they can endure so the preacher must measure his economy of words and make them count.
• Seek out the prayer warriors in your church and have them pray for all aspects of the sermon preparation and delivery.
• I often work on my sermon up to the last minute, many times editing in the pew just before I preach. However, try to allow some time between final prep and the actual delivery. I often relish the Saturday’s where I can spend the day away from my notes and think through the various aspects of tomorrow’s sermon. Sometimes I only have an hour in the early Sunday AM to do this but it’s always helpful.
• I would be interested to hear your thoughts and ideas on sermon evaluation.