THE PREACHING LIFE:
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Preachers
by T. Scott Daniels
I try to stay in the habit of listening to preachers I
admire. When possible, I have tried to ask my preaching heroes what
habits have shaped them into effective communicators of the gospel.
This is certainly not a comprehensive study by any means, but here are
seven habits I have gleaned from those I admire and have tried to make
part of my own preaching life.
Habit 1: Let the Text Do the Driving
There is a place for topical preaching, but one of its
dangers is that the preacher tends to start with the point they want
to make and then go and look for a text (and even a translation) to
back that up. I have found the best preachers start with the text rather
than with their point in mind. Great preachers know how to get themselves
out of the way and let the biblical text speak.
Habit 2: Think Ahead
It goes without saying that it is difficult to let the
text speak when the preacher is writing the sermon on Saturday night
(or during the opening hymns). Great sermons usually come after an extended
time of ruminating and reflecting on a text. A mentor taught me to plan
a preaching calendar two years in advance and to try and have the research
for next Sunday’s sermon finished by Monday so that I can have
the week to “walk around” in the text and allow the Spirit
to reveal its voice to me.
Habit 3: Do Good Research
A sermon is usually only as good as the research put into
it. The technological age is both a blessing and a curse on this point.
The Internet has made weak, simplistic, and easily plagiarized material
readily available to everyone, but it has also made excellent biblical
scholarship accessible. Wonderful commentary series (my favorites are
the Interpretation and the New International Commentary series) are
easy to order and can be found at affordable prices. There are great
singular works out there also that can easily be ordered online. For
example, if you are preaching a series on John, do an Internet search
for available class syllabi from courses being taught at seminaries
and colleges on the Gospel of John and then order the books that seem
most interesting from the list of required reading.
Habit 4: Read the Times
At one level I mean that literally. Great preachers tend
to know what is going on in the world and are up-to-date on current
events, but more important than that is the ability to interpret the
times or exegete the culture. It is one thing to know how to exegete
a scriptural text in its original culture, it is a unique and wonderful
gift to know the current culture well enough to speak that biblical
message in ways that are relevant for contemporary ears.
Habit 5: Work Hard at Communicating
A preacher can have the first four habits down and ruin
a sermon by being a lousy communicator. It dawned on me a few years
back that there was one thing my favorite preachers and secular speakers
had in common, they did not use notes. Great orators, comedians, teachers
and preachers learn to speak conversationally.
If you have never preached without notes, begin by reducing
the amount of material you carry with you into the pulpit week by week.
Start with your main ideas typed out with a few points listed underneath.
Once you are comfortable with limited notes, go to a note card with
just your main concepts. Eventually you will be comfortable enough to
put that note card in the back of your Bible and refer to it only when
you can’t remember the direction you want to go next. Once you
put your manuscript and notes away you will never go back (in part because
your congregation won’t let you).
Habit 6: Have a Point
Early in my ministry I had a parishioner shake my hand
and say, “That was a great sermon pastor, but who cares?”
After all the research is done, and before I begin to write a sermon,
I ask that same question, “Who cares?” Great preachers have
a way of letting the congregation know why they should care and what
they should care about.
Habit 7: Leave them Responding
Week in and week out I believe the most difficult decision
a preacher faces is how to help the congregation respond to the message.
Many if not most Sundays the appropriate response is to gather around
the Lord’s Supper to remember Christ and invite His presence into
our lives so we might better become His body in the world. Some weeks
naturally call for a decision of commitment and so inviting people to
the altar is appropriate. Often the only appropriate response is praise,
but every week I want to leave people thinking and reflecting. My favorite
compliment as a preacher is when people say, “We talked about
the sermon all through lunch.”
Great preaching is an art that requires calling and giftedness,
but like most pursuits in life, the right habits can go a long way in
helping us become the best preachers we can be. ?