Why Pastors Should Consider Preaching (At Least) 5 Minutes Shorter

I should probably clarify what I meant by “when I’m doing it.” I enjoy and love the study, prep, and writing (I manuscript). It’s that actual doing it, stepping into the pulpit, that I find terrifying, for a myriad of reasons including feeling the weight of my own sin as well as being acutely aware that I probably don’t know what I’m doing. I’m still a very novice preacher, having only been preaching for three years now and not on a regular basis. So far this year, I’ve only preached 6 times.

John Ellis recently preached at our church. His Godly fear and respect for the responsibility of preaching God’s Word was evident to me. His concentrated and successful effort to stay on topic assured there was no wasted time and his familiarity with his manuscript assured that most if not all of us didn’t know it was a manuscript. He set a good example for all of us.

Different strokes for different folks. Fortunately for Mac Arthur, there are more than 10,000 people who eagerly attend his preaching every week. As near as I can tell, his church is built almost entirely by his expository pulpit. It will be interesting to see what happens when he’s no longer in the pulpit. As to his style, I find it helpful. His goal is to exposit Scripture, and that’s what I look for in preaching. I remember first hearing him on the radio in the early 80’s, and thinking, “I need to find out more about this man and his ministry.” I have been personally blessed and helped by Mac Arthur. I believe I am a better preacher today because of him.

I’ve heard his earlier sermons, before he began to write his NT commentaries. They were warmer, friendlier and more down to earth. I think he started sounding like a running commentary when he started doing his NT commentary series. I like MacArthur and have read several of his books. I just don’t always like his preaching style. I could have my Kindle read a NAC or EBC-level commentary and get most of the same thing! It’s just a personal preference with me.

What Pastors need, honestly, are collaborative, honest sermon critiques. I wish we had a mechanism in my context to do this. I’m just so busy, and the other pastor is far too kind to be critical the way I wish he would be! If local pastor fellowships could commit to reviewing one sermon from a member per month, that might go towards making this dream a reality. If a fellowship of 12 pastors does this, each pastor will receive a critique once per year. We could even form a consortium of interested folks from SI to do the same for one another, I suppose.

Here’s what I did and still do, even though I’m retired. My sermons are posted on the church’s website. I’ve enlisted the following: an older retired pastor friend, an old friend (probably unsaved) who’s in a United Methodist Church, two of my (now former) co-workers; both of whom are professing Christians but attend different churches, and my most brutal critics, my wife and grown sons. I’d also meet with the other elders.

I also employed Spurgeon’s principle of having a blind eye and deaf ear. I’d tended to ignore “that really was a terrible sermon-I hated it” and “that was a wonderful sermon-I loved it”.

Tyler,

I just picked up Who Will Preach? by Mark Hallock and he recommends starting what he calls a “Spurgeon League” in your church (and maybe in cooperation with nearby churches) to raise up preachers in the church. If I’m reading him right, this would allow you to train up some men who could give you some feedback as part of their own training and growth process. Might be worth checking out.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1732229120/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_1732229120

That sounds like an excellent idea … for a less busy time! The pastor’s fellowship angle is the only realistic option for me right now. I also reached out to somebody on SI for a semi-regular sermon critique, too.

https://twitter.com/Svigel/status/1037185548379664384

I’m with Ron 100% there—he’s got a group of men he ASKS for feedback. You don’t want to be bouncing back and forth with every gadfly out there, but you do want someone who will graciously say “that’s really not what that passage is about” or whatever.