What Is a Sermon? My Definition Has Changed Over the Years

By Jud White

A wise and seasoned leader said to me once, “Jud, stop trying to preach great sermons. Preach good sermons and love your people, and they will love you for it.”

That may sound like odd advice. He could tell I was trying so hard to preach well that it was suffocating my loving well. His advice freed me to be more concerned about caring for people and getting God”s truth out there week in and week out, rather than hitting a grand slam each weekend in my preaching.

Ultimately, it freed me to make my preaching more about God and less about me.

Keep “˜em Rolling?

But what is a good sermon or message? At one point I thought a good message was a creative one. I used to say, “If you can sing it, show it, or represent it in any other way than speaking it, then you should.” I”d have lots of videos, dramas, and songs inside my messages.

There isn”t much I haven”t tried inside a message. I”ve had people rappel down from the roof and have done a message with a guy hanging upside down. I”ve smashed glass, tried on different types of clothes, shot cannonballs into the audience, demonstrated stress balls, played instruments, done game shows, held contests for who could change a baby”s diaper the fastest, and had guys ride Harleys onto the stage.

In short, I”ve tried a lot of stuff. I learned creativity can be beneficial, but often people remember the creative element more than the point of the creative element. I found myself questioning all of this and wondering, Is this what God has called me to do? Does creativity make a good sermon?

In another season, I elevated humor as my top criteria for what makes a great sermon. I would never say this up front, but in reality this was how I judged my communication. I”ve always been able to make people laugh. So I”d craft long, humorous stories and gauge my success by how much I could get the crowd rolling.

People walked away saying, “That was great” or “He is so funny.” But the question remained, Is this what God has called me to do? Does humor make a great message in God”s eyes?

Apply the Text

All this brought me back to a simple definition for a good sermon. A good sermon is a clear, concise, and passionate explanation of the Bible and its application to individual and community life. The most important aspect of my preaching today is that it is grounded in the Bible, most often in a single passage I try to explain.

I have intentionally reduced my creativity and even my humor in my messages. I”m all for a little creativity and humor, as long as it does not overshadow the text and its explanation. I”m more concerned that people walk out saying, “We serve a great God” instead of “He was a great speaker.”

My biggest goal is to explain the text clearly and apply it at two levels. Many communicators apply the text to individuals, but I also seek to apply the text to the church community as a whole. These two levels of application help create and sustain a biblical community.

So I”m asking, “What does this text mean for me?” and “What does this text mean for us?” If people leave understanding the text and knowing how to apply it personally and corporately, then that is success.

 

 

Jud Wilhite is senior pastor of Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, and author of several books, including That Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Standard Publishing).