Choose The "Bad" Sermons

26 Nov 2022:

Ephesians 4:11-13 NLT

"Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ."

    A leader in the CG had recently returned from a holiday to Australia and recounted his experience at a Sunday service at a certain church in one of the cities. He had.. pointers and feedback about how the pastor preached. "Very good content but like no main flow or sequence" was the gist of it, I believe. To make matters worse, people kept going in and out mid-service and even left during the worship segments. It was a horrifying image for me to envision in my mind, much less even consider attending such a service to witness it in person. It was, after all, a far cry from the atmosphere and energy exhibited every week in my own church's services (a fact that I am very thankful to God and perhaps even proud for).

    But then I considered how the person preaching must have felt. These are the very words of God that the Holy Spirit is speaking to his church each week. How discouraged and utterly disheartened they must have felt to watch both the saved and unsaved alike walk into their services with hardened hearts, sermons failing to engage their minds and the word of God that they are no doubt enthusiastically sharing being lost on deaf ears.

1 Corinthians 2:1 ESV

"And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom."

    What I've come to realize that is SO important to remember is this: in every sermon, in house of God, His presence is still there. God would want us to keep our hearts open - the more spiritually mature you are, the more you are easily edified. You can always receive something from the word of God no matter who preaches it and how they do it. Matthew Westerholm, whose article "The Benefit of Bad Sermons" was a main inspiration behind this particular revelation, said it best:

"Just as a loving husband notices his wife even when she is dressed grubbily, Christians can show their love for the living Word of God when he is proclaimed by inelegant preachers."

    My conclusion is that the really spiritually mature believers can see beauties that unbelievers and baby Christians miss. If you dismiss a “poor” preacher, you miss an opportunity for growth. Poor preachers are gifts from the Lord, to demonstrate your love for Christ by understanding that these men and women carry the heavy load of speaking for Him, and what we are hearing is not the poorly formed sermon of someone who may not have theological sophistication or eloquence in public speaking, for it is ultimately not from these that we receive life, but the living Word Himself, Jesus Christ.

    A dear friend and kindred spirit of mine summarized her own philosophy on the matter very succinctly:

"If there are two preachers: one very good, one very lousy but trying, I will listen to the 'lousy' one. Because he needs (the) support and I also feel that perhaps God can speak to me differently." 

 If a man has a message to preach, and the Spirit of God is within him, then may God give us ears to listen.  

Sources:

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-benefit-of-bad-sermons