As good friends of mine search for a church, I am reminded how hard it is to weigh the matters that our important to us in a church, particularly with regard to preaching. That is why I appreciated my friend who was here for several weeks. She had a keen grasp on what good preaching looks like.
And we must remember that the preaching of the Word is the single most important part of a church. Other things like fellowship, liturgy, music, outreach, service, etc. are very important as well, but the fundamental reason we go to church is to hear from God through His ambassador in the pulpit. Everything else that we do as a body flows from his powerful and personal address to us.
But how do we recognize good preaching, especially in an ear-tickling age when we're "seeker sensitive," dominated by political and social causes, and have seven principles for everything? This is an important question, because the guardians of the pulpit are not often committed to faithful preaching, which means that, as God's people, we must be.
Thus, I have seven principles/questions for distinguishing good preaching. :)
1) Is God's Word the content of the preaching? We all know that the power of preaching is found in God's Word. Yet many sermons today are filled with fluff--with testimonies, personal anecdotes, and funny illustrations. These things are all great--as long as they are shining the light back on the truths found in the passage. If you want to hear my word, give me a glass of wine and ask me about politics, philosophy, psychology, or culture. If I'm preaching from Psalm 91 on the Lord's Day, you better come away with a better knowledge of Psalm 91, not me.
2) Is God's Word being placed in its proper context? In other words, if I am preaching on the aftermath of David's affair with Bathsheeba, it would probably be good for you to know some background on David's life and his relationship with the Lord, or perhaps a little more about the martyr, Uriah (i.e., he was one of David's mighty men), or perhaps a history of the Amorites, who the Israelites were fighting. These contextual considerations include extra-biblical history as well if it pertains to the passage--geography, culture, etc. We know a lot more about covenants like the one made with Abraham (Gen. 15) because of ancient Near East Suzerain-Vassal Treaties.
3) Are the hard themes--God's holiness, the Law, man's sin, judgment, death, and Hell--preached? These themes are often skipped over today, but they are essential to a proper understanding of the Gospel! Jesus said He came for the sick, not the healthy; sinners, not the righteous. These themes are also presented in various forms in every passage. For example, "Love your neighbor as yourself," is not an expression of grace, but of law. As such, it refers to God's perfect love, His demand for perfect law, our fallen, hateful hearts, and the judgment we deserve. This all points to the Gospel, of course.
4) Is God's Word preached with Jesus Christ as the focus? In Luke 24, Jesus walked through the Old Testament with the depressed disciples on the Road to Emmaus and declared they all testified to Him. The book of Hebrews makes a similar point, in showing how the OT continually testified to Christ through various types and shadows. Every passage is centered on Jesus Christ. Thus, we have a logical progression of understanding God's Word so far--start with the historical context and then show how the passage points to Christ. To ignore the context is to fall into the trap of "allegory," which removes the truths from their proper historical place. To ignore Christ is to fall into the trap of "moralism," which makes a passage fundamentally about me and the moral lessons I learn (i.e. "Dare to be a Daniel").
5) Is God's Word addressed to God's people? This can be a difficulty for some of those who have learned the power and beauty of preaching Christ crucified. The law not only drives us to the cross, but then regulates the Christian life. It is thus appropriate, after presenting this historical context and showing how the passage points to Christ, to bring it to bear upon the heart of the sinner. And God's Word was not spoken into the wind, to be carried away and ignored--it is given to His people. They are directly addressed, held accountable, convicted of their sin, and comforted by the Gospel.
6) Is God's Word used to call people to repentance today? I wouldn't say that this is an essential ingredient for preaching every week, but is useful to mingle conviction and comfort at the close of a sermon. God's people need to know that they can rest in the Gospel, but also that they should stand in the grace they've been given (Rom. 5). Our hearts should always feel a bit wounded by God's Word as it operates upon us and as a result, more eager and grateful for the salve of the Gospel.
7) Most important: Is the person and work of Jesus Christ and the way of salvation clearly presented? This is what my message boils down to fellow chaplains and chaplain candidates of various denominational backgrounds. Even with the resurgence of Reformed theology in the chaplaincy and the country at large, there are still a good many preachers who will only preach their own experience, "cheap grace," dry doctrines apart from their meaning and effect, and moral lessons. What I ask every (evangelical) chaplain--after I ask if they themselves believe in Jesus as their Savior from sin--is if they preach it. The masses cry out as they did in Acts 2, "What must I do to be saved?" We must have a ready answer. If, at the end of a sermon, a preacher has not communicated the basics of the Gospel, then he has failed in his most basic responsibility and will be held to account.
Friends, I hope these principles prove useful to you as humbly engage the preaching of God's Word. It is a tragedy that these questions even need to be asked. My hope is that we will all find churches where, confident in the faithful preaching of the Gospel, we can simply submit to the Word of God as God speaks to us, and be transformed unto the image of Christ by the power of the Spirit and to the glory of the name of the Lord Almighty.
