How do you process these responses after finishing a sermon?

“Great job!”
“Every sermon you preach is better than the next.”
“Well, it certainly is a great text.”

If you’ve heard such comments you may appreciate some of the other memorable feedback received by pastors Bryan Chapell, J. D. Greear, and Mike McKinley. But they don’t stop with humerous anecdotes about usually well-intentioned Christians. They urge believers to assume the> weaknesses and notice the strengths of their preachers. Unfortunately assuming the strengths and noticing the weaknesses is often more common.

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Despite the potential for hurtful feedback, these three ministers recognize need for giving and receiving criticism to help them grow in their preaching. Watch the full video, where they explain the need for humility among preachers and patience among church members.

J. D. Greear (MDiv, PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Under Pastor J.D.’s leadership, the Summit has grown from a plateaued church of 300 to one of over 12,000. He serves as a Council member for The Gospel Coalition, and recently served as the 63rd President of the Southern Baptist Convention from 2018 through 2021. Pastor J.D. Greear has authored several books, including 12 Truths & a Lie (2023), Essential Christianity (2023), Just Ask (2021), What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? (2020), Above All (2019), Not God Enough (2018), Gaining by Losing (2015), Gospel (2011), Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart (2013), Jesus, Continued… (2014), and others. He hosts Summit Life, a 30-minute daily radio broadcast and weekly TV program as well as the Ask the Pastor podcast.

Bryan Chapell (MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary; PhD, Southern Illinois University Carbondale) is a founding council member of the Gospel Coalition and is Pastor Emeritus of the historic Grace Presbyterian Church and President Emeritus of Covenant Theological Seminary. He now leads the Administrative Committee of the Presbyterian Church in America. His preaching and teaching are broadcast in many nations through Unlimited Grace Media, and are also available at unlimitedgrace.com. He is the author of many books, including Unlimited Grace, Each for the Other, Holiness by Grace, Praying Backwards, The Gospel According to Daniel, The Hardest Sermons You’ll Ever Have to Preach, Christ-centered Worship, and Christ-centered Preaching, a preaching textbook now in multiple editions and many languages. He and his wife, Kathy, have four adult children, and a growing number of grandchildren.

Mike McKinley is the senior pastor of Sterling Park Baptist Church in Sterling, Virginia. He is the author of Church Planting Is for Wimps (Crossway, 2010); Am I Really a Christian? (Crossway, 2011); Did the Devil Make Me Do It? (The Good Book Company, 2013); Passion (The Good Book Company, 2013); and The Resurrection in Your Life (The Good Book Company, 2015). His most recent book, co-authored with Mark Dever, is 90 Days in Ruth, Jeremiah and 1 Corinthians (The Good Book Company, 2016).