William Willimon writes on page 129 in The Intrusive Word:

Our main task is not to be entertaining, or interesting, or thoughtful in our preaching. Our task is to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them … and teaching them.

Certainly great preaching is entertaining at times, but that is not our point. I hope that your preaching is thoughtful, but that ain’t enough. Personally, I believe it is a sin for a preacher not to be interesting, but that is not our highest point. God has sent us as sheep among wolves to accomplish a task.

In our completion of that task we need to spend time thinking about how we will preach. We must spend much time interpreting the text. But in the end, we cannot lose sight of the task to proclaim God’s coming kingdom. Let us take up that task without falling into the trap of placing other concerns on a higher level.

Related posts:

1. Denzel to Preachers – Just “Let It Rip”
2. Napoleon Harris – My First Preaching Experience and Suggstions for new Preachers
3. Should I Write a Draft of my Sermon?
4. Don’t Just Preach to Yourself
5. Why are Some Preachers better than others?