Donald Sunukjian, professor of preaching at Talbot School of Theology, writes and teaches concerning “oral clarity.” One of the things he teaches relates to the reading of a text during a sermon. Many preachers will introduce a text with a question, perhaps asking people to find the answer as the text is read. Sunukjian feels that this practice is not helpful. For many listeners this leads to a struggle to spot the thing the preacher expects them to see, then when they fail, they are discouraged at their inability to glean such things from the text. Once the text has been read, the preacher will then highlight the point he was looking for and the listeners will have one fact underlined in their minds – they missed it. So the solution? Sunukjian encourages preachers to introduce a passage by telling people the point that the writer is making, clearly stating and restating the truth that will be noticed as the passage is read. Then as the passage is read, the listeners hear the point, it is reinforced as being truly biblical, and they feel more confident in their ability to read the Bible for themselves!

Sunukjian’s new book, Invitation to Biblical Preaching: Proclaiming Truth with Clarity and Relevance, will be reviewed on this site soon. If you have read it, feel free to submit your feedback in response to this post.