We have had the privilege of sitting under many wise and gifted teachers. We have heard the book of Genesis preached verse by verse, chapter by chapter, by multiple pastors, and learned new things each time. We have been incredibly blessed by pastors who joyfully help us plunge into the depths of Scripture through various teaching methods. But how do we identify good preaching?

The five marks we look for in a pastor's sermons:

1. Good preaching is based on Biblical exposition.

2. Good preaching is accessible.

3. Good preaching is applicable.

4. Good preaching is bold and humble.

5. Good preaching isn’t weird.

Biblical Exposition

First, good preaching is based on biblical exposition. While we typically look for and attend churches with verse-by-verse expository preaching, we have also learned and grown through topical sermons. Within them, we still find the foundation of the message, built on a passage of scripture in its context, which is exposed to us to show what it says, what it means, and how it applies. If a sermon contains only individual verses floating around to support a series of points with no biblical context, this is probably not good preaching.

Accessibility

The second thing we look for in preaching is accessibility. I want my tween or teen children to be able to follow the main points of the teaching. New believers should be able to follow the message. The Bible is not too dense or complex for the layperson to understand. A highly educated pastor may find it challenging, but a skilled teacher can effectively communicate the gospel's truths accessibly. We did not return to the church we visited, where the doctoral pastor used complex theological terms intended for advanced seminary students. When a teacher gets into the weeds about Greek syntax or Hebrew literary structure to the point of adding complexity rather than clarity to a message, the teaching becomes inaccessible.

Applicable

Thirdly, we look for applicable teaching. A good teacher will bring to light truths of Scripture that challenge my thinking. These sermons make me realize I have been doubting an aspect of God’s character, relying on my own strength, sinning against others, or failing to obey God’s commands. We grow as disciples who can make disciples of others when we learn and are pruned, taught that we are lacking, brought into confession, and rejoice that God has provided forgiveness and the power we need to move forward in righteousness. A preacher must apply the truth of God’s word to the congregation's lives for their edification and growth.

Bold and Humble

Boldness in teaching will not shy away from difficult passages and calls us to surrender the sin we’re holding onto. Bold teaching is rooted in the knowledge and unshakable faith that God’s inerrant Word will be victorious. It does not water down what is hard to hear. Bold preaching is filled with love for the listener, wanting them to know God more, even if it painfully highlights their fallenness. However, boldness in the power of God’s Word should not be confused with boldness in the intelligence of the preacher. Boldness must be accompanied by humility.

Grace Church

Once a year, our pastor would spend a few weeks preaching about spiritual gifts. The sermons were expositions of passages such as 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 or Romans 12. I learned a lot from this wise and gifted teacher. However, I disagreed with some of our pastor’s interpretations of these passages. We agreed that God equips His children with Spiritual gifts and calls them to use those gifts to serve one another and others. However, we disagreed about some of the implications of those gifts and how they are used in the church today.

Our pastor often said, “I believe I’m right and would love to convince you. I’m going to keep trying. But, it is okay if we don’t see the same interpretation here.” He encouraged the church to pray for wisdom and revelation, dig into Scripture, seek understanding, and interpret Scripture well, even if it led them to disagree with his interpretation. And so, with minds and hearts open to his teaching, we listened and weighed. And it was okay that even after his teaching for both years we lived there, we landed in a different place than he did on a few of his points.

Downtown Church

We had been members of Downtown Church for two years when our pastor preached about the ordinances of baptism and communion, sharing new interpretations he had never shared before. The sermons in this series were not expositions of any one passage of Scripture. We agreed with his teaching on essential points. We agreed that taking communion is an obedient identifier of God's Church. We agreed that baptism is an act of obedience to Jesus’ command. We agreed on the logistics of the ordinance and how they were physically represented and practiced in the local church. However, we disagreed with some semantics and underlying ideas that are not addressed in Scripture or essential to faith.

In these sermons, the pastor explained that those who disagreed were welcome to find another church to attend. We set up a meeting to discuss the matter privately, as we loved our church and did not want to leave its membership. He explained his teaching to us again, this time slowly, using simple words, and asked, “Does that make sense?” after every few sentences. He did not encourage us to pray for wisdom and revelation, dig into Scripture, seek understanding, and interpret Scripture well, even if it led us to disagree with his interpretation. He could not point to any particular passage that supported his teaching. He could only point to his logic, vague passages that did not address the subject (“all of Galatians 5!”), and other people who agreed with him. The conversation did not end with him saying, “I believe I’m right and would love to convince you. I’m going to keep trying. But, it is okay if we don’t see the same interpretation here.”

Instead, the discussion ended with him telling me that we actually agreed. He explained that my disagreement was just a miscommunication and that we probably didn’t disagree at all. He was saying, “You’re just not smart enough to grasp this in its entirety, but since I am, I can tell you that you agree with me.”

Both pastors taught boldly, and we learned a great deal from each of them. But one taught with humility and discipled us well, even when we disagreed. The other lacked humility, leading to unnecessary disunity.

Not Weird

Lastly, good preaching will not be weird. This is mostly self-explanatory. If he’s the first guy who ever thought of an interpretation of a passage, weird. If he believes all existing English translations of Scripture are garbage and he needs to write a better one, weird. If he constantly refers to his wife of 30 years as “my bride” instead of using her name, he might not be weird, but he’s leaning that way. You get the idea.

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