I am a real critic. I know that’s generally a bad thing, but you know, sometimes it’s both necessary and helpful. Sometimes people are scared of being critics because they don’t want to look prideful, fanatical, or self-centered. Well… can we should all accept the fact that criticism is not about the content of the speaker’s character, but the content of his criticism? Ok.
We should all be humble hearers. Listen to Sermons with gratitude and respect for the Minister. Few people know the cost of the preacher’s labor, and even fewer understand the scale of a pastor’s ministry.
That said, there are some times when I hear a sermon and I am left very very unhappy. This usually happens when one or more of these 10 errors are made:
1. When the pastor obscures the truth in an attempt to simplify it. (e.g. explaining Israel as the people of God and immediately equating that with the Church)
2. When an illustration becomes the sermon itself (e.g. when a sermon should be called “What we can Learn from Wonky the Walrus”)
3. When possible interpretations becomes the point in a Sermon outline. (The 3 meanings of being Salt to the World: 1. you are the “flavor” of Christ 2. you “create thirst” for Christ 3. You “preserve” life from decay)
4. When a certain word is given the wrong definition or a definition that does not clarify it’s signifiance. (e.g. “redeem essentially means to save…”)
5. When the point of the sermon is lost.
6. When the text of the Sermon is a springboard instead of a foundation
7. When the Pastor’s confusions on certain topics leaks into the Sermon only to confuse the hearers
8. When there is no application other than “you are accepted and loved.”
9. When there is a claim referenced to the greek, but the greek does not support the claim.
10. When the message becomes a fun facts session for the theologically nimble, and a bucket of terms for the theologically sluggish.
May all preachers therefore ascend the sacred pulpit with fear and trembling.
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