What makes a good sermon? How do you know if you are effective as a preacher? How can we raise the bar as ministers of the Word? What can churches do to increase sermon effectiveness? These kinds of questions were asked at the recent meeting of Classis Queensland. If we are serious as pastors to increase the overall health of our churches, one of the very best places to begin is with the Word being preached. Good sermons are not automatic; it takes much effort on behalf of every servant of the Word. And one way to improve sermon effectiveness is intentionally receiving listener feedback.
Haddon Robinson calls listener feedback "the lifeblood of communication. Without it, preaching seldom touches life."(Biblical Preaching, p. 134) Donald K. Smith compares communication without listener feedback like trying to go somewhere in a car that has wheels that aren’t round. He writes: "Just as a car needs complete round wheels to make progress, so the circle of communication must be complete for understanding to make progress. It is feedback that completes the circle. . . . Completing the circle by listening to what the audience is saying, what the audience is needing and wanting, is a better way than shuffling them to one side while we proclaim." (Creating Understanding, p. 338). Preaching doesn’t have to be "a monologue with no return . . . . In fact, significant preaching has always involved dialogue. The most astute preachers allow their eyes and ears to program their mouths." (Haddon Robinson, Making a Difference in Preaching, p. 130). Lowell O. Erdahl compares preaching without feedback to driving golf balls in the dark. He writes: "We preachers need all the help we can get, and only the hearers can tell if we are ‘hitting the green.’ One of the best was for us to hear ourselves is to listen to our listeners. As preachers and hearers we can help each other by encouraging feed-back and feed-in."(Preaching for the People, p. 100)
Effective preachers seek formal, systematic feedback prior to the sermon; they also seek it following the sermon. Donald Smith reminds us that "structured evaluation . . . is a deliberate effort to get specific information about what is happening and how this outcome stacks up against objectives." (Creating Understanding, p. 347) Roger E. Van Harn writes that "people who listen to sermons have the right to be listened to before and after the sermons are spoken." (Pew Rights, p. 150) If the kind of results a preacher expects from his preaching do not happen, the wise preacher will want to know why not. What could be done better next time to maximize the kind of results a preacher can realistically expect from the faithful preaching of God’s Word?
One way to remain effective as a preacher of the Word is to use a questionnaire. (A sample questionnaire that I have developed and used over the years can be downloaded by following this link. Simply distribute the questionnaire to a number of people prior to a Sunday service. Collect them after the service. Tabulate the results. The benefit of using a questionnaire is that the preacher can readily identify any problem area and gauge how different groups within the church respond to the sermon preached. I have also discovered an added bonus in using questionnaires. People become better listeners to sermons when they participate in filling out questionnaires.
If the results a minister can realistically expect from the faithful preaching of God’s Word is contingent on how carefully he listens to his listener, then the preacher must take an audience-centered approach to communication. The word of encouragement to preachers is: "Cultivate a listening ear to those who hear you preach, and maybe because you have listened to them, they will hear you."(Craig A. Loscalo, Best Advice for Preaching, p. 150)