In Part 1 of this interview, Murray Capill told us about his own journey towards preaching and why he wrote ‘The Heart Is The Target’ about including good application. We continue our interview with some questions about the nature of preaching that makes an impact.
In our personal experiences, many of us can point to moments where we were particularly struck by something in a sermon. And then there are ‘normal’ moments of listening to good but nonetheless more regular preaching. How much control does a preacher exert over whether their message hits the heart?
I like the distinction Tim Keller makes between a ‘good’ sermon and a ‘great’ sermon. He basically says, the preacher can work to produce a good sermon but only the Holy Spirit can take that and make it a great sermon. Sometimes the Spirit takes our work, maybe our very ordinary work, and uses it powerfully in people’s lives. That’s a wonderful thing for which we should earnestly pray.
But our task as preachers, as well as praying for that, is to do all we can to preach ‘good’ sermons. And my definition of that includes not only being faithful to the biblical text, not only communicating clearly and compellingly, but also targeting the message of the text to the hearts of the hearers. In sermon after sermon we should go after people’s hearts. We should seek to enlighten their minds, convict their consciences, stir godly passions and affections, and move them to right action and response.
So normal, regular, bread and butter preaching should be aimed at the heart. It should be aimed at changing lives and impacting people at the deepest level of their soul. Of course whether it does actually penetrate people’s hearts is entirely dependent on the inward work of the Spirit. Only by the Spirit can hearts be changed. But the Spirit uses means, and one of the foremost means he uses is the preacher’s skill in applying the Word. So we must we do all that we can, and then we must depend totally on the Spirit of God.
What are some of the things that younger preachers need to consistently learn?
I believe there are three things that make for good preaching: content, connection and communication.
Content is the biblical and theological substance of the message and if that is not strong then the sermon will never amount to anything.
Connection is the way the main message of the text connects to people’s hearts and lives today. If that is weak or missing then you have a lecture, not a sermon.
Communication is the way the content and application is presented. It needs to be clear and compelling, interesting and engaging, preached with warmth and force.
So that’s the first things I’d say to young preachers – a good sermon is the combination of all three together. You can’t pick and choose. Work hard on all three. Each involves skills that have to be learnt and it takes time. I often quip that the first hundred sermons are the hardest. Chappo was harsher: he said the first 50 years are the hardest.
The second thing I’d say, however, is that while you should work hard at being as skilled as you can possibly be, don’t try to be amazing. Don’t try to be the next Keller or Piper or Jensen or whoever your hero is. We are surrounded by celebrity evangelical preachers whom God has gifted and blessed. I don’t think they aimed to be high profile – that has just happened as God has used them. And we must be content with how God wants to use us, which for most of us will be in very low profile ways.
In fact, I believe the work of Christ’s church is mostly advanced by ordinary people, doing their best in ministries that will never be world-famous. What your church needs is not for you to be famous, but to be real, diligent, humble and loving. Just do your best for your people. Love them enough to labour over the Word and distil the essence of each text you preach. Love them enough to make things as clear and engaging as you can. Love them enough to preach to their hearts and drive the message home to life as it actually is. Love them enough for your ministry to be about Jesus, not you.
It is sometimes argued on the basis of 1 Corinthians 2:1 that the preacher’s style is not significant as long as the gospel is present in the message. Can a preacher work on stylistic techniques and their delivery without compromising on the gospel?
That’s a great question. It certainly sounds like Paul despises any interest in matters of style, rhetoric and communication. But then you look at the way he writes, and you realize he is a master of rhetorical devices, powerful arguments, simple illustrations and passionate language.
Paul wasn’t speaking against developing skill in communication. He was speaking against the Greek’s love of a brilliant speech. He’s saying that preaching is not about the speech – it’s not about showing off our wit and wisdom. It is about the glory of Jesus and the wonder of the gospel.
Our task, then, is to speak as well as we possibly can so that Jesus is held high. We want to speak plainly, compellingly, interestingly, clearly, winsomely, persuasively. That takes great skill, but the aim should never be to show how wonderful we are but to use those skills to show how wonderful the gospel is. We need to communicate as well as we possibly can, but we also need to search our hearts and make sure that our preaching is about Jesus, not about us.
What’s the hardest thing about preaching?
Good preaching usually sounds quite effortless and good preachers make it look rather easy. But it isn’t. Behind good preaching lies many hours of hard work, in exegesis, application and communication. And I think the hardest thing about preaching is sustaining that week after week, year after year. It’s not so hard to produce a one-off wonder. But the longer you preach the deeper you have to dig. You can’t stay fresh if you are just going through the motions and churning out another message. The danger is that you know how to do that and you just go through the mechanics. But if you want to be used of God you will need to keep growing in the word yourself, keep learning new things, keep praying harder than ever before for God to bless his Word. Never think you have arrived, you’ve got preaching in the bag, and you can do it on the fly while you attend to other ministry needs. Preaching always warrants the very best of your time, energy and focus.
