I’ve been there and you probably have been as well. There have been times when I’ve finished preaching a sermon, sat down, and wondered, “What just happened!?” Every pastor who has preached for any time at all knows what it’s like to preach a dud. Let’s be honest: we all know you can’t hit a home run every time you preach (a good goal is just to get on base - to preach the text faithfully in a way that’s helpful for the congregation to see Christ and understand the text’s meaning and application). But sometimes you just plain strike out.
Preaching a dud can be both frustrating and discouraging. You diligently work all week to prepare a sermon that will minister to your congregation. You pray and anticipate how God will use it. But at some point during the sermon (maybe when people are staring back at you like a cow staring at a new gate), you realize that the sermon just isn’t landing, and by the time you finish, you know you just preached a dud.
What can you do when that happens? Here are a few things to keep in mind when you think you’ve preached a dud.
1. Rest
Most pastors are their own worst critics on Sunday afternoon. One of the best things you can do is rest before being too harsh with yourself. Chances are, the sermon wasn’t as bad as you thought. Chances are, you’ll feel better about it within a couple of days. You often gain better perspective once you sleep on it a night or two. One of the best things you can do after preaching a dud is to get some rest.
2. Trust
God says His Word won’t return void but will accomplish the purpose for which he sent it (Isaiah 55:11). You can trust that even if you preached a dud, God can and does use his Word despite you. In fact, sometimes it seems that God does his best work with my worst sermons. Maybe you have had the experience, as I have, when you preach a dud but someone comes up afterwards and says, “How did you know? That was exactly what I needed to hear today!” That is a reminder to me that God uses his Word no matter what, even if I didn’t do a good job with a particular sermon. A Methodist preacher once described preaching as “Speech commandeered by God.” This is a good reminder: God can take over our sermon and do what he wants with it in the lives of his people.
3. Pray
A good thing to do when you preach a dud is to pray. Ask God to give you perspective. Ask him to use his Word. Ask him to help you do better next time you have an opportunity. Ask him to encourage you and help you keep at the good work he’s called you to do. Ask him to use this opportunity to humble you and remind you that preaching is not about you and your ability but about God and his glory.
4. Hit the study
For many years, I was a baseball coach. When my son or one of the other boys on the team hit a slump at the plate, we would spend extra time in the batting cages, stripping down their swing and getting back to the basics. If you’ve ever been thrown from a horse, you know the best thing to do is to get right back on it. One of the best ways you can respond to preaching a dud is simply to get back to work. Keep grinding. Hit the study. Dive into the Bible and your sermon preparation with more zeal and diligence this week than you did last week. Don’t give up. Just get back to it.
5. Give thanks
When I preach a dud, I’m often reminded of how grateful I am for a patient and loving congregation that puts up with my weakness, failures, and times when I feel like I can’t preach my way out of a wet paper sack. We’ve all had to sit through bad sermons from time to time. I’ve not always been as gracious to others as my congregants are to me. Let’s be grateful for the opportunity to pastor people who endure their fair share of bad sermons and are still gracious and patient with their pastor. Give thanks for the opportunity to do what you do - what a blessed privilege it is to pastor and preach! And give thanks for the people God has entrusted to you to minister, who often minister as much to you as you do to them.
No one bats 1.000%. Everyone strikes out from time to time. Get some rest, trust God, pray, hit the study, and give thanks. God knew what he was doing when he called you to this task. Trust him to use you even when you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing or aren’t doing as good of a job as you’d like. Preaching is a journey, with its mountain peaks and its valleys. The goal isn’t to preach great sermons, but to preach about a great God and glorify him in your ministry. So, as the apostle Paul once told Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it!” (Colossians 4:17).
Editor's Note: As a part of its commitment to fostering conversation within the Southern Baptist Convention, the Baptist Review may publish editorials that espouse viewpoints that are not necessarily shared by the TBR team or other contributors. We welcome submissions for responses and rebuttals to any editorials as we seek to host meaningful conversations about the present and future of our convention.
Andrew Hébert
Andrew Hébert (Ph.D., Southern Seminary) has been in pastoral ministry since 2005, serving churches in Texas and New Mexico, and he has led Mobberly Baptist Church since 2022. He holds degrees from Criswell College (B.A., M.A.) and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Th.M., Ph.D). In addition to his experience as a pastor, Andrew has served in Christian higher education, teaching at Criswell College, Midwestern Seminary, and Southwestern Seminary. He has preached at the SBC Pastors’ Conference and has served previously as a member of the SBC Sex Abuse Task Force and as Chairman of the SBC Committee on Order of Business. Andrew is the author of Shepherding Like Jesus: Returning to the Wild Idea that Character Matters in Ministry (B&H Books, 2022). He and his wife Amy married in 2007 and have four children. In addition to serving on the leadership team for The Baptist Review, Andrew is also an associate editor for the journal.