When Pastors Do This, It Drives Me Crazy

I listen to a lot of preaching because I believe I can learn from everyone. Good or bad.

Recently I listened to a pastor who began his sermon with a passage of scripture. He read through the entire passage.

I expected that the remainder of the sermon would expound upon this text and apply it to our lives. However, for the next 45 minutes, the pastor proceeded to preach a sermon that had barely anything to do with the text he read.

He referenced more dead authors than the Bible. In my analysis, his sermon was based on books, not the Bible. Unfortunately, I hear sermons like this all the time.

Please don’t misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with quoting an author or two when it is applicable to the message. However, the Bible needs to be the foundation every point in your sermon is built upon.

The Bible is not a springboard for us to launch into whatever we want to preach about. Opening the Bible and preaching a word from the Word is the reason for the sermon. You should not preach a sermon that does not logically flow from the text.

If we prepare a message where the main point is not found in Scripture, we better go back to the drawing board. We have failed to be faithful to God’s Word.

When we use scripture as simply a starting point for our own sermon we elevate ourselves above God. We communicate that what God said in the Bible is not as relevant, important, clever, persuasive, or applicable as what I have to say.

“I can say it better. I’m really smart. Look at all the books I read.”

This is pride, arrogance, and a total lack of respect for the Bible.

Wrong Starting Point

Here is the problem: we start with something other than Scripture, then go to the Bible looking for a verse to fit our idea.

• I see preaching like this when pastors build sermons around a good idea.
• I see preaching like this when pastors build sermons around a good illustration.
• I see preaching like this when pastors build sermons around a good book.
• I see preaching like this when pastors build a sermon around good advice.

This is not proper Biblical interpretation. We force our ideas into the Bible. In seminary this is called eisegesis. It’s bad. Don’t do it.

If this is the way you prepare a sermon, please stop.

The proper way to prepare a sermon is to start with Scripture. (I outline this process in my book).

Pray for God to reveal what He wants us to understand from His Word. Then, open the Word and study it until you draw out every last insight you can. In seminary this is called exegesis. It’s good. Do it.

This is why whenever I sit down to write a sermon, I start with a prayer that goes something like this: “God, guide my preaching. May I speak your words, not my own. Help me be faithful and true to you, Lord. Please speak to me. Reveal to me what you want to say through me this week.”

As Paul commanded Timothy, “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2).

Preach the Word, not just your words.