The Power Of A Good Question: Evaluating The Sermon Before You Preach
Dr.
J.K. Jones, professor of preaching at Lincoln Christian College, maintains that
"a good question is worth a thousand answers."11
I'm not suggesting the questions presented in this paper are of the magnitude
of those of Luther or Bonhoeffer (see sidebar). But I am suggesting that these
simple questions - "Does this sermon teach? Does it heal? Does it empower?
Does it restore? Does it reorient? - might help us prevent some unwanted post-sermon
trauma from occurring.
Not
every sermon must answer all these questions. But every sermon should answer
at least one of them. And every course of sermons should answer them. If every
preacher would ask every sermon in every series these questions, listeners would
certainly not suffer the way the people of Israel suffered under their shepherds.
And if we, Christ's "under-shepherds" did our job, God may not feel
compelled to "do it himself."
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One
last question: how will we know? We need some way to determine if we have succeeded
in preaching messages that accomplish the purposes of God. Allow me to suggest
these brief means of finding out.
- Create a group
of respondents who provide feedback following the sermon. Every three weeks
or so, meet to discuss what they've heard and how it has or hasn't helped.
- Appoint a key
listener who will work with you in the final stages of preparation. Make that
person aware of which question(s) you are hoping to address in a particular
message and give you feedback.
- In a team staff
arrangement ask colleagues to provide written response/evaluation.
- Create an interactive
page on the church's website to receive feedback from the sermon.
- Provide three
or four listeners critique sheets to fill out and return following the sermon.
- Listen carefully
to the anecdotes offered by your listeners.
- Ask key leaders
to seek input from the listeners and give you feedback.
- Have someone
transcribe your sermons so you see what you actually said.
In
any case, ask yourself these questions before and after the sermon in a kind
of pre- and post- evaluation process.
These
questions are as I have heard them, adapted from Martin Luther and Dietrich
Bonhoeffer.
Martin
Luther's 9 questions:
1. Do you teach/preach
systematically?
2. Do you have a ready wit (humor)?
3. Are you eloquent? (wordsmithing)
4. Are you caring for your voice?
5. Do you have a good memory?
6. Do you know when to end?
7. Are you sure of your doctrine?
8. Will you risk body, blood, wealth, honor to preach? (courage)
9. Will you allow yourself to be mocked and jeered?