Pastors and Their Sermons
Surveys of pastors consistently tell us that the most fulfilling part of a pastor’s job is delivering the sermon each Sunday. There are reasons for this, which we will look at, but first let’s think about what a sermon can and cannot do. First, here’s what a sermon can do:
It can cast vision for the ministry of the church. The pastor can let his congregation know what is the vision, strategy and goal of the church.
A sermon can give information about the Bible; beliefs, values, principles and doctrine.
A sermon can give hope and encourage the listeners.
A sermon can meet specific needs of the listeners if the subject is relevant to their life.
A sermon also gives the pastor an opportunity to get people to know who he is, at least as far as he is willing to talk about himself in his messages.
It can provide the opportunity for people to “make a decision” about whatever the pastor is talking about in his sermon, though fewer and fewer churches seem to ask people to actually get up out of their seats and come to the front of the church, which is the purest form of “making a decision”.
Here is what a sermon cannot do:
It does not provide any opportunity for interaction.
It does not allow the pastor to know the spiritual, emotional or physical state of any of his listeners.
A sermon cannot disciple anybody!! Since the mission of the church is to make disciples, the sermon alone will never accomplish the most important function of a church. How do I know this? Because it is not the model Jesus used to make disciples! He spent 3 years with a small group of disciples and then turned them loose on the world.
Finally, consider why pastors list speaking as their favorite part of ministry:
It shows how much smarter they are than those in the pews (or chairs).
They get to use all the information they learned in seminary (How many times have you heard the phrase “In the Greek this word really means”)?
The pastor has complete control (usually) over what he says and how he presents it. This is one of the few areas of ministry where someone is no looking over his shoulder.
If the pastor does a good job presenting the sermon, people will tell him so. Everyone loves positive feedback (of course, the reality is that sometime people will criticize the sermon, but then you can’t have everything).
If you’re a pastor and you spend more time on your message than anything else, I encourage you to rethink your priorities in light of the fact that Jesus wants you to make disciples, and though your sermons are important to the ministry of the church, they will never alone move people forward in their spiritual journey.