Audience Analysis

Check the AA Map On the Bridge

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In the UK one of the companies concerned with caring for stranded motorists is the AA (the Automobile Association). This is essentially similar to the AAA in the US (and I should mention the RAC over here, who I used to work for and remain loyal to!) So the AA produce road maps to help you know where you’re going. Here’s an important tip – when you’re on the bridge, check the AA map.

Preaching, as John Stott taught, is about building a bridge between the world of the Bible text and the world of your congregation. If you look at the 8-stage approach we advocate on this site, you’ll see two parts to the bridge. The first part of the bridge-building is all about the biblical passage. You select the passage(s), study it, discern its original purpose and formulate the idea in it. That puts you 4-stages through the process. You’re half-way. Now check the AA map.

I don’t mean the Automobile Association. I mean your Audience Analysis. This is important because the last four stages are all concerned with effective and relevant communication of the passage(s) to your congregation. The message purpose, idea, outline and details all need to take into account who you are preaching to. So when you’re halfway across, when you’re in the middle of the bridge, check the Audience Analysis map and make sure you know where you’re going!

The Elements of Expository Preaching

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The study of expository preaching can be a lifelong journey. For many of us it should be a lifelong journey. And the complexity of this ministry allows for a lifetime of learning. Consider the complexities of biblical interpretation and the diversity of biblical genre and form. Think about the continual changes in society, not to mention the ever developing experiences and needs of each individual listener. Ponder the numerous variables in effective oral communication, seemingly increasing all the time as advances are made in the fields of communication, rhetoric, education and homiletics. It is clear that there is plenty for us to keep studying and stretching ourselves as preachers: from applied linguistics in discourse analysis to the epistemological paradigms of postmodernity. From family systems dynamics to unintentional perlocutions in the preaching event. There’s plenty to learn for all of us.

But let’s not get caught in a fog of confusion here. The core issues are still the core issues. Preaching must always be concerned with the specific meaning of the biblical author and with the relevant and effective communication of that meaning to contemporary listeners. Preaching remains a spiritual endeavor very much concerned with the work of the Trinitarian God in you and through you. Excellence in Bible study, effectiveness in communication, relevance in presentation, and all of the above in a close reliance on the Spirit of God through prayer. Boil expository preaching down to its elements, and it is not much more than this: God, you, them & Bible study, communication and relevance.

Take stock of the basic elements – where should your learning and passion for growth be focused at this point in the process?

Thriving in the People / Passage Tension

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Phillip Brooks said something along these lines: He never went to his study and looked in the Bible that he didn’t see his people’s faces running across his study. When he went out to meet his people, his study would beckon and he would see the Bible.

This tension is not a reason for frustration. When studying a passage, pause and consider who would be directly helped by it. Take a moment to pray for them. Then get back to study. When meeting people, perhaps on a Sunday at church, do the reverse. Between conversations consider what passage would help the person you just spoke to, again fire a quick prayer for them. Then press on to the next interaction. In reality every passage holds value for everyone in the church, but allow your mind to make specific connections anyway.

This mental exercise can bear ministerial fruit. With practice you will find yourself more naturally bringing helpful Bible texts into conversations, and more naturally bringing relevance and application into your preaching.

As preachers we live in a tension between people and passages. Embrace the tension and learn to thrive in it.

Urgent Needs in the Pew, Urgent Changes in the Pulpit?

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As I wrote my post yesterday, a package arrived. Having made a guess at how Andy Stanley views preaching, I received his book on preaching. I will soon post a review of the book. But let me share something from the book today. In fact, let me share one point that underlies his instruction throughout the book. Here it is – since there is such an urgent need in our listeners, will we do anything we can to effectively connect their lives to God’s Word?Let me quote a bit for you:

“Every single person who sits politely and listens to you on Sunday is one decision away from moral, financial, and marital ruin. Every one of ‘em. Many are considering options with consequences that will follow them the remainder of their lives. [He describes several examples] . . . There they sit. Silent. Waiting. Hoping. Doubting. Anticipating. What are we going to do? What are you going to do? What are you going to say?

“This is the world we have been called to address. These are the issues we have been called to confront. There is much at stake. There are many at risk. The great news is the pages of Scripture are filled with principles, narratives, and truth that address each of those needs The question you must answer is, to what extreme are you willing to go to create a delivery system that will connect with the heart of your audience? Are you willing to abandon a style, an approach, a system that was designed in another era for a culture that no longer exists? Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone in order to step into the lives God has placed in your care? . . . Will you communicate for life change?”

Stanley’s urgency is stirring. What is he advocating? What kind of delivery system does he suggest? Should we be making urgent changes in our preaching? I’ll finish the book and give you my thoughts.

Quote from Communicating for a Change, by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones, pp88-89.

Expository Misunderstanding

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For many people the term “expository preaching” carries negative baggage. Often this baggage relates to some restrictive view of what is meant by it. Dry, dull, lifeless, canned – these are all possible, but not required. Irrelevant is also added to the list, but technically that is not even possible. John Stott notes that “all true preaching is expository preaching.” But he does not mean form, he means content. “In expository preaching the biblical text is neither a conventional introduction to a sermon on a largely different theme, nor a convenient peg on which to hang a ragbag of miscellaneous thoughts, but a master which dictates and controls what is said.” (Between Two Worlds)

Let us be clear that expository preaching is a philosophy of preaching, not a form of preaching. It is about the authority, centrality and influence exerted by the biblical text in the preaching process and event.

Our goal, as expositors, is to communicate the meaning of the text relevantly to our listeners. Biblical text, relevantly communicated. We can use whatever form we deem to be both appropriate and effective. Form is not the issue. There is great freedom, in many ways there are no rules, but we must seek to communicate the meaning of the text in a way that has applicational relevance to our listeners. Any definition of expository preaching that defines form is a misunderstanding.

Who You Preach To – Part Two.

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Ramesh Richard presents a helpful angle on the variety of people listening to any sermon. He presents three attitudes that will be present at various times in a message. “An expositional ministry,” he writes, “allows you to put a weekly dent in their apathy, passivity, ignorance, or hostility to equip them for godliness and service.” So the three attitudes that we must be aware of and communicate with?

1. The I Don’t Cares! These are not hostile, they just don’t feel they should be there at all. They are there out of a sense of duty to friends or family, or habitual routine. For this attitude the need raised at the beginning of the message is critical. Without it, they are free to continue their inner stance of not caring.

2. The I Don’t Knows! They lack the background awareness that others may have regarding God, the Bible, Christianity and church life. These people need good biblical content clearly explained.

3. The I Don’t Believes! These people are doubtful about the truth of what is said, or the applicability of it to real life. They are likely to test what is said with questions such as, “Is this truth coherent?” or “Is the sermon consistent?” or “Is this truth practical?” and especially, “Will this work?” For this attitude you must demonstrate a coherent consistency as well as practical applicability.

These attitudes may come and go during the same sermon, sometimes within the same person. Before preaching, evaluate your sermon and adjust its design to overcome the potential pitfalls for these attitudes. Is a clear and valuable need raised? Is there sufficient accessible explanation? Is the message relevant and practical? We preach not to get our study into the public domain, but to see the lives, the hearts, the attitudes of our listeners changed by exposure to God’s Word.

Who Are You Preaching To?

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Preaching can be considered a relatively simple equation. You try to get the biblical message to the people sitting in the pews. Yet we so easily give all our effort to one half of that equation. We may study the passage for hours, but give little or no thought to the listeners. So next Sunday, who will you be preaching to? Lewis Smedes looked out at his church one Sunday morning and saw this:

“A man and woman, sitting board-straight, smiling on cue at every piece of funny piety, are hating each other for letting romance in their marriage collapse on a tiring treadmill of tasteless, but always tidy, tedium.

A widow, whispering her Amens to every promise of divine providence, is frightened to death because the unkillable beast of inflation is devouring her savings.

A father, the congregational model of parental firmness, is fuming in the suspicion of his own fatherly failure because he cannot stomach, much less understand, the furious antics of his slightly crazy son.

An attractive young woman in the front pew is absolutely paralyzed, sure she has breast cancer.

A middle-aged fellow who, with his new Mercedes, is an obvious Christian success story, is wondering when he will ever have the guts to tell his boss to take his lousy job and shove it.

A submissive wife of one of the elders is terrified because she is being pushed to face up to her closet alcoholism.

Ordinary people, all of them, and there are a lot more where they came from.”

Lewis Smedes, “Preaching to Ordinary People,” Leadership 4, no.4 (1983): 116.

World Three

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After mentioning the world of the Bible and the world of the contemporary culture, Robinson mentions the third of four worlds – the world of the specific local congregation.

His observation that the local church congregation has a very specific culture of its own that only partially reflects the broader culture around is spot on. What is true of this particular congregation? Rural, suburban or urban? Established or new? Educational level? Socio-economic strata? Past crises and present struggles? Interpersonal dynamics? Sin-stained baggage? The two “worlds” of culture and congregation do overlap, but it is helpful to distinguish them so that the preacher doesn’t think that a message will work without change anywhere in a culture. As preachers we must do everything we can to know the specific people we are preaching to. If you are the pastor, be a continual student of your people. If you are a visiting speaker, you may only have fifteen minutes to familiarize yourself, but use those fifteen minutes to the max by asking questions without ceasing. You’re building a bridge, know where it has to land.

World Two

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John Stott’s classic book on preaching was entitled Between Two Worlds. His metaphor for preaching has been quoted by a generation of preaching writers. The preacher must inhabit both the world of the Bible and the world of the contemporary listener in order to build the bridge between these two worlds. Haddon Robinson suggests there are four worlds with which the preacher must be very familiar. The world of the Bible comes first. Of course, if preaching is to be expository this world must be present and must be first in the list. Second, he lists the world of contemporary culture. How are we to familiarize ourselves with the culture in which our people are immersed every day?

A preacher cannot hope to communicate effectively if their life is lived in a cultural vacuum, secluded in solitude from the people to whom they preach or the culture in which they live. It is important to have our eyes open. Observe society. Don’t just drink in societies messages without discernment. But use the same skills we use for sermon preparation on the messages all around us. What is the main idea of that advert? What was the big idea in that movie? What is the intended purpose of that song? Without conforming to the culture around us, we should be familiar with the movies that define the thought of our culture, the books people read, the music that forms the background noise of life. Let your specific congregation (world three), determine which aspects of culture you pay most attention to. A rural aging congregation may be relatively untouched by movies, music and sports. So with the limited time you have, select carefully where you can best get your finger on the pulse. Book reviews? Specific magazines and newspapers from all sides of the political spectrum? News or culture watching websites? Certain blogs? Your people live in this world all week, and if you hope to communicate to those still outside the church, this becomes even more critical, because the world of the local congregation has not become theirs yet.

Preaching Resource Teams in the Local Church

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I know some pastors who love this idea. I know others that seem to flee from it. Consider it. Consider approaching a group of people in the church and ask them to be part of your Preaching Resource Team.

1. Tell them what sermons or series are coming up. They can be on the look out for illustrations, information, stories, statistics, etc. They feed this to you and you filter it for helpful material. In reality, a lot will never get into a sermon, but that is also true with your own hunt for illustrations. Having others feed this stuff to you will help you as there will be a nugget here and there.

2. Tell them when you are going to use their stuff. “Hey Steve, thanks for that moon-landing story, I’m going to use that this Sunday!” Steve will be there. Steve’s family and friends will probably be there too as he herds them in with his head held high.

3. Tell the people where you got the story. “Steve passed me a story that really makes this idea clear for us. When Neil Armstrong first stepped onto the moon . . .” Now Steve is really beaming (maybe on the outside, probably on the inside), and will double his efforts to help you. Others will also want to help you too, once they see that you are open to input.

4. Tell the team you appreciate them. Perhaps once a year you could throw an appreciation meal for your Preaching Research Team. Make them feel special, appreciated and involved. What do you have to lose?

There are numerous ways to involve members of the congregation in sermon preparation or feedback. I’ll mention others in time, but liked the sound of this idea when I heard it mentioned recently by Dave Stone.