Quality Questions

by Peter Lundell

Imagine the abysmal effect if Jesus had gone around asking himself what he should say and afterward speculating on how well He did. Likewise, what we ask before and after we preach can make all the difference between dwelling on ourselves and focusing on God and our listeners.

For a sermon to even begin formulating in a preacher's mind, a question is first considered. The question might be explicit or implicit, but it arises nevertheless in deciding what to preach. Too often, like a mental default mechanism, the question is: "What should I preach?" It sounds innocent enough, but it focuses essentially on the preacher, on what the preacher has to give-- rather than on the listeners' needs or on God's direction.

If we are to preach a sermon that our audience needs to hear, we had best begin by asking a useful question. One is: "What do the people need to hear?" (not want to hear). When we speak to their needs, the resulting sermon will, by design, speak to open hearts. Another question is: "What does God want to say to these people?" God has an agenda for us: it's all about Jesus and changing the lives of those who encounter Him. It is no coincidence then that these two questions usually have the same answer. What people need to hear is what God wants to say. Of course there are times when people do not want to hear what God wants to say. That's why it's good to ask both questions.

After a sermon, we're often inclined to ask, "How well did I do?" But in that question hides a trap. If the sermon comes off great, we risk becoming proud of ourselves. If the sermon doesn't seem so great, we risk getting depressed. Pity then the one who preaches to a half-comatose audience and thinks he's no good, as well as the one who speaks to an enthusiastic audience and thinks he's the best there is. When we start comparing ourselves to other preachers, pride or depression only intensify. So no matter how well we do, the very question will lead us to focus on ourselves rather than on God or the people we serve.

Just as good pre-sermon questions yield more impacting sermons, a good post-sermon question will give us better direction until the next time. The question is simple: "Was I faithful to the text?" This question frees us from the tendency to focus on ourselves and leads us to focus on our fidelity to God's Word and to what the audience needs to hear. When we separate questions about our delivery from the essence of the sermon itself, we can improve our delivery without losing perspective on the greater task of conveying God's Word to people who need to hear it.
"My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me" (John 7:16). Good advice.