I have been exposed to church preaching all of my life. During that time I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. Fortunately, in my experiences, the good has outweighed the bad. I know everyone can’t say that. If you go to a decent variety of churches and services, chances are you have been or will be exposed to some bad preaching. Here is what you can do when you experience bad church preaching.
What Is Your Definition of Bad?
I’ve learned that people have different definitions of what bad preaching is. Many of us expect today’s preachers to be extremely charismatic. If the preacher doesn’t sweat and leave everyone yelling and shouting, then he or she did not do a good job in the eyes of many people. Even if they were speaking the absolute truth, often times some of us rather prefer presentation over content. That is unfortunate.
For the sake of this post, bad preaching is when one of the following occurs. First, the preacher’s message contains many inaccuracies that are not supported by the Bible. Second, the delivery of the message is so incoherent that it is difficult to understand the purpose of the message.
Take Some Action
After hearing bad preaching, the first thing you should do is pray. Ask God what he was trying to say to you through the sermon. It is possible that the preaching wasn’t bad, and you just missed what God was trying to say.
The next thing you want to do is pray for the preacher delivering the sermon. Chances are that they truly love the Lord. Unfortunately, they have some slight issues when it comes to conveying God’s word. Pray that they Lord will speak to them and help them become a more effective minister.
If these instances of bad preaching occur frequently, I suggest you talk to your pastor. Respectfully share with him or her your concerns about this minister’s preaching ability. If the bad preaching is coming from your pastor, then you may need to consult with God about whether or not he wants you to remain with that specific congregation.
What Not To Do
After hearing somebody flame out in the pulpit it is real easy for you to get with a friend an begin to talk bad about the minister and message you just heard. This is the last thing you want to do. Remember, good preaching or bad preaching, that minister is still a child of God. Talking bad about them would not please God at all. As a body of believers, our goal should be to build each other up and not tear each other down.
Have you had any experiences with bad preaching? What did you do?
