Recently a friend annoyed me with the comment, ‘this is the best preacher in my city”.

What does that mean to be the best preacher? My friend, who I greatly respect and like, comes from and exists in a certain segment of church life. Not surprisingly the preacher he referenced was from that same segment. I am not going to say what type of segment! That is not the point. But I do want to challenge anyone who thinks good preaching only comes from certain styles.

But here is what I think about preaching. It is not as important as what some think, neither is it as unimportant as some think. Furthermore there is no type of preaching that is better than other types. I realise that is where some will disagree, and perhaps my good friend.

I do think there are certain principles in preaching that matter.

It should be transformative. There is no gain if preaching is merely information transfer which does not lead to transformation. Transformation means something changes. It could be an attitude, a belief, a behaviour. It might free someone, it might challenge them, it might encourage or exhort them. But at its heart good preaching changes things. It transforms us.

The Word and the Spirit both need to be present. The Holy Spirit uses the Word to bring about change in someone’s life. Both need to be present. A preacher should have the Word at the heart of the message. What does the Bible say, present, inform, exhort, encourage us towards. The Spirit takes this word and pierces the heart, transforms and renews the mind, rebukes a lie, changes a behaviour, brings about a resolve to be more like Jesus, to say YES to Jesus.

Should it be expositional, topical, current, narrative, liturgical….

That is up to you, your personality and your context. These are not the point. The point is transformation.

So often when I hear someone say, this person is a good preacher, it is because they align with what the person themself likes. What aligns with their culture, with what they resonate with. It has nothing to do with what is good preaching at all, it is about preference. Which by the way is okay, just own that. And don’t say someone is not a good preacher because you don’t like their style.

In their context, to the people they are speaking to, are they bringing about transformation and fruit? Are lives being changed? That is what makes them a good preacher.

Someone said to me once, maybe more than once, I get nothing out of your preaching. Ouch. In one case it was because they didn’t like me. Fair enough. I don’t even like me sometimes! Other times it is because how I preach doesn’t resonate with them. Fair enough as well. There are hopefully preachers that will resonate with them.

I see deeply exegetical, thorough and ordered preachers who are incredibly effective. I also see some exegetical preachers who would bore the socks off a turtle.

I see deeply passionate spirit filled pentecostal topical preachers bring something out of the text in a way I never could, and people are saved and transformed by the power of the Spirit. Amen! I also hear some passionate preachers who would make good laundry detergent salespeople.

It is not about which style or personality is better, it is about what God wants to do, in this moment, to these people.