There is no absolute scale for the effectiveness of a preacher. Unlike some sports competitions, there is no universally agreed upon scoring system for whether a sermon is “good” or “bad” or somewhere in between. That’s because preaching is so highly contextual. In one setting a sermon might go over like gangbusters, but the same sermon delivered elsewhere might bomb. A sermon’s worth depends in large measure not only on what you’re saying, but how you’re saying it and to whom.
Truly, the Word of God is the Word of God, but the preacher’s job is to make sure that that Word gets heard. If you come out of the preacher’s box breathing fire and throwing brickbats, your hearers are likely to shut you out and stop up their ears even if they continue to sit there politely and at the end of the service say, “Good sermon.” Years ago, the chip on my shoulder was just a little bit bigger than it is now, and one Sunday I preached what I thought was a scorcher. At the end of the service, I marched to the back of the church ready to catch hellfire and brimstone, and the first thing I heard was, “You really gave it to ‘em today, Pastor!” Not gave it to me, not gave it to us, but gave it to them. I’m still trying to unpack that lesson.
Peace.
Gosh, are you telling me that it’s ME you are directing your sermons to??? Oh my. I thought I was just there for moral support
We once ranked the sermon from the choir section. Sometimes it was appreciated but mostly ignored.
GL