Every week, some person of reasonable authority stands up before the congregation and preaches a sermon. Sometimes they make you laugh, sometimes you are intellectually challenged, sometimes you are aggravated and uncomfortable, sometimes you may even weep, and then now and again, something is said that you actually remember weeks, months, or even years later. At times, sermons can feel like a sophisticated Ted Talk. At other times, they come off as a well-crafted piece of entertainment. Occasionally, it feels as if the preacher has spent long hours crafting his sermon, yet at other times, it feels like they are making it up on the spot.

Obviously, not all preaching is the same; indeed, there is good and bad preaching. And while you probably love your preacher, others may find him shallow or out of touch. There is a subjective and culturally nuanced understanding of what makes a preacher good. A good preacher is good to you, to your understanding of what that means in your context.

Of course, there are objective markers of good and bad preaching. We could examine the proper distinction between God’s Law and the Gospel. We could address whether or not the hermeneutics employed are defensible and reasonable, we could measure the message against the centuries of orthodox teaching and preaching, and we should do all of this. But this isn’t my focus here. Let’s assume that all these things are in their proper place. Let’s assume that the Law and Gospel of the Word are faithfully distinguished and the hermeneutical principles employed handle the text faithfully and reverently guided by a Creedal confession. Does this automatically make the sermon good?

While theologians and professional preachers may have a healthy back-and-forth about this question, to the average layman sitting in the pew, the answer is easy: no. A sermon is good if it connects or hits the mark on that particular day in that specific situation. This lies in the realm of rhetoric, creative storytelling, and image building. It is more of an art form than a systematic appropriation of a text.

Good preaching then should employ the lessons of rhetoric. A preacher should examine the poetics of our time to craft experiences where the creative Word meets the believer’s life. You can view this task as a form of apologetics where the preacher works hard with all that he has to remove barriers to hearing the Word. Good preaching seeks to do this, over and again, for those to whom he has been sent.

Good preaching is more than a faithful Bible Study; it is a performance of the Word in real time for the sake of those sitting in the pews.

But does this really matter? Must a sermon be good for the Word to fulfill its purpose? From the preacher’s perspective, it’s often easier to be faithful to the text than to excel at preaching. If the quality of preaching doesn’t matter, why strive to be good? Does a desire for personal glory drive this pursuit, or is there something more to it?

St. Paul said, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” Perhaps we might add, “Will they even listen if the preaching isn’t good?”