Preach To The Heart, Then Put Feet On It

It is a constant temptation for preachers. In fact, it is a feature of some streams of preaching. To preach at the level of behavioral change. You take a biblical story, draw out a moral (or several) from it, usually at the level of the characters’ ethics. Then preach a moralized version of the passage. The Bible is more than a book of moral case studies. Preaching should go to the level of God (theocentric) rather than just humanity (anthropocentric). Yet the message must also be relevantly addressed to a human audience.

People are heart driven creatures, so preach deeper than the mind and will. Of course we are called to inform peoples’ minds and exhort the will. Yet our preaching will always fall short if we don’t address the heart, the values, the desires, the passions, the feelings and the attitudes of our listeners. Whenever possible, target your message at the hearts of your listeners.

Heart level preaching is not merely conceptual, put some feet on it too. It is easy to preach at the level of attitudes or values and end up with a very conceptual and abstract message. It is important to try and earth that preaching in the every day world of your listeners. What does that mean when they watch the news on the TV? What will that look like when that person starts to flirt with them? What should they do when the temptation comes? Preach to the heart, but then help them visualize successful application of that preaching. They may agree with you and desire to change, so help them see what that will involve by putting feet on your heart-level preaching.