In the legal profession, lawyers are held to ethical and legal standards that at times are open to interpretation. Nevertheless, there are standards, and some of them form objective criteria for evaluation of conduct. Also, lawyers are subject to other measures of performance, including for trial lawyers, winning and losing. For transaction attorneys, deal closure, or the failure thereof, seems to be a meaningful standard, too.

But what about the preaching ministry? What are the Biblical, ethical or ecumenical standards that apply? Truthfully, regardless of denomination, whatever standards are taught, they are either not enforced or they are so subjective that they are of no benefit.

Unlike some observers, I have spent several years in the pulpit. The standards taught to me were simple and straightforward, but applied with discipline, they provided a straight line. Jim Avery taught me about the discipline of preparation. Terry Hull taught me the discipline of presentation from prepared materials without ad lib or extemporaneous deviation from the planned presentation. Thus, what I preached always had a Biblical basis as sound as my understanding of the Scriptures informed by my research both of the text and secondary authorities. My sermons were my own, guided by the Holy Spirit. I did take the license to clone a couple from Mr. Hull, but even then I worked them up as if they were my own and did not deviate from the discipline of preparation or presentation. Both Mr. Avery and Mr. Hull made it clear to me that advance preparation in the study was more likely to be Holy Spirit-driven than improvisations during worship services. The Holy Spirit either did not need improvisation or could provide it a day or more in advance. The Holy Spirit might think the commentators down through the ages did enough improvisation.

Lately, however, I have sat in many worship services in more than one denomination and heard sermons that were transparent in the poverty of preparation and presented as post hoc rationalizations rather than faithfully prepared presentations of the Scriptures. Do these ministers think no one is listening, and therefore the quality of their work does not matter? Do these ministers think the Plan of Salvation is on automatic pilot and their efforts from the pulpit are not needed? Continue reading What Ever Happened to Sermons? →