Homiletics

Delivery is More Than What You Say – Part 2

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There are three more channels of non-verbal communication. Litfin’s introductory text, Public Speaking, gives a helpful summary of each:

4. Physical appearance – Whether you like it or not, people infer a lot from how you look.  Be consistent with your message, your listeners and the occasion. The question is not if you will communicate by your appearance, but what you will communicate by your appearance.

5. Facial expression – Over half of our non-verbal messages are transmitted through the face. Default should be relaxed and pleasant. Then vary according to what you are saying. You may be very expressive before delivery, then frozen during delivery. It is easy to inadvertently communicate hostility through a furrowed brow, flared nostrils, a tight jaw or squinting eyes. Bright lights can have a huge effect on our facial expression too. Be aware.

6. Paralanguage – everything communicated by the voice apart from the words. The intonation can radically change the meaning, while keeping the same actual words. Thus it is important to use the voice carefully, fully and attractively. Attractiveness of voice, according to Litfin, involves articulation, rate, loudness, pitch and quality.

Delivery is More Than What You Say – Part 1

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Any beginner’s course in public speaking will soon instruct that effective delivery is so much more than mere word choice. Any self-evaluation of early attempts at preaching will probably point to the same thing, and if it doesn’t, a helpful listener will soon point it out! Dr.Duane Litfin, president of Wheaton College, is the author of Public Speaking: A Handbook for Christians. In his chapter on delivery he lists six channels of non-verbal communication. It would do us good to evaluate our awareness of these channels as we seek to communicate effectively. The first three:

1. Proxemics – the perception and use of space. Not an easy subject to grasp, but specifically helpful in three respects. First, there is the issue of distance. Physical distance is related to psychological distance. Generally speaking we should minimize the distance between speaker and listeners. Second, Litfin mentions elevation. If you are elevated above them, this suggests that you consider yourself above them. If you are below the congregation (amphitheatre), then the dynamic is reversed. Usually it is better to be on the same level if possible. Third, obstructions. A blocked view means blocked communication. This can refer to floral displays, a bulky podium or even your notes. Let people see you.

2. Kinesics – technical terminology for body language. This incorporates gesture, posture, movement. There are very few rules, but make sure your physical action complements and reinforces what you say. Request feedback from listeners, and watch a video once in a while. Without knowing the term “kinesics,” people instinctively know what you are communicating nonverbally.

3. Eye behavior – small things, but very powerful in communication. Don’t look above people, don’t look past people, look at people. Select an individual and look them in the eye for a moment before moving to another person somewhere else in the congregation. If you have eye contact with one person, several people feel connected with you, but if you avoid eye contact, then all will feel left out. Consider the earlier posts on “no-notes preaching.”

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World Four

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The world of the Bible, the world of contemporary culture, and the world of the local congregation. Three worlds in which the effective preacher must be able to move freely and knowledgeably. Then there is a fourth world in Robinson’s list. This is the inner world of the preacher. This one is easily neglected. Yet it is critical because it can color everything else.

As a preacher, I am studying the Bible, determining author’s idea, wrestling with sermonic purpose, considering effective ways to communicate, etc. Yet I do not stand aloof from the process of building the bridge as some kind of outside contractor. I am part of the culture. I am usually part of the congregation. I have my own presuppositions, history, family issues, temperament, baggage and emotional perspectives. The more we can prayerfully understand ourselves, hopefully the better we can avoid our own baggage becoming dead weight in our sermons. Homiletical harangues, sermonic scoldings and religious rants are often born out of personal issues. These tirades spell trouble for our listeners, so consider the fourth world. It is not healthy to navel gaze, but it is also wrong to be oblivious to our own inner realities. Allow the Holy Spirit, personal times of evaluation, helpful books from Biblical counselors and interaction with close friends help you know yourself. You’re building a bridge, know how your subconscious life may pre-determine the direction and manner of your construction.

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

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

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.

The Holy Spirit and Your Preaching – Part 2

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Thankfully preaching is not just you and your listeners. It’s so much bigger than that. Your preparation is critical stewardship before God. Their openness to listen is also a vital stewardship of their opportunity. But there is also the Holy Spirit:

The Spirit of God is at work long before the sermon passes through the air. The work of God in the people of God is constant. Our privilege is to be a tool in that greater work. So long before we stand to preach, the Spirit of God has already been working in peoples’ lives – drawing them to Christ, convicting them of sin, disciplining believers, orchestrating life’s circumstances and so on.

The Holy Spirit is critical in the delivery of the sermon. The older writers referred to the “unction.” Today we might refer to the “anointing.” The fact is that true preaching goes beyond our preparation and ability (both of which require of us good stewardship), to have a contagious vibrancy that can only be credited to the delivery taking place in the power of the Spirit. This is not something that can be stirred up by our own pre-delivery ritual, but can surely be harmed by our character, motives, attitude – by sin.

The work of the Spirit continues after the sermon is finished. Thankfully it is not our responsibility to follow up on every individual in minute detail, convicting, encouraging, filling, urging, etc. When we lay our effort before the throne, God’s work presses on. Praise the Lord.

The Holy Spirit and Your Preaching – Part 1

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When it comes to preaching, it is easy to refer to the Holy Spirit by way of excuse. How simple to bring in the Holy Spirit as an excuse not to do some difficult aspect of preparation, or to cover for a lack of attention to some aspect of the preparation process. This is very unfair. Preaching is a spiritual work, and so the Holy Spirit must be given His rightful place. Here are some thoughts that will probably stimulate other thoughts:

Preaching is our work and God’s work, not one or the other. Our responsibility for the mechanics of sermon preparation in no way negates the Holy Spirit’s role in the dynamics of sermon preparation. Likewise, the Spirit’s role in bringing fruit from the preaching event does not remove our responsibility to participate fully.

The foundational concern is the spiritual walk of the preacher. Everything that the Bible teaches in relation to the spiritual walk of a believer is also, and especially, true of the preacher. This relates to character, to life choices, to prayerful preparation for ministry and so on. This means walking in step with the Spirit, not grieving the Spirit, fanning into flame the gift of the Spirit, and living a life controlled by the Spirit.

The preparation process involves the Spirit at every step. Every stage of the process could be prefixed with the term, “Prayerfully. . .” We must prayerfully select the passage, prayerfully study the passage, prayerfully determine the author’s idea and so on. We should not work in a personal vacuum and then merely ask for God’s stamp of approval just prior to delivery.

(Ramesh Richard has a helpful appendix on the Holy Spirit and preaching in Preparing Expository Sermons which influenced this post.)

Is Paper PC?

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I teach people to use a series of sheets of paper when preparing a sermon, just as I learned from my first preaching professor, John Wecks.  The sheets allow you to catalogue thought in appropriate compartments.  They allow you to write a thought and put it aside until it is time to consider that element of the sermon.  Let me list the sheets I would suggest.  Then I’ll suggest reasons to use real paper or virtual paper on the PC.

The Sheets – The first one to be used is the “Questions of the Text.”  Use this on your first read through and list everything that is not clear.  This sheet will be very helpful as you finish your sermon and prepare to preach it.  See previous post on this subject – August 14th.   Then I’d suggest sheets for exegetical notes (multiple sheets may be required), author’s idea, author’s purpose / sermon purpose, notes on congregation, sermon idea, sermon structure, possible illustrations, areas of application/pictured relevance, introduction, conclusion and then the manuscript (multiple sheets required).

Why go with paper? – No matter how much our computers improve, there is still something special about a desk covered in open books and paper.  So much sentimentality for one so young!  Some people may find the paper approach helpful, others may find it necessary.  It works.  In fact, I would suggest working on paper until it becomes a familiar process.  Then, if you like the reasons given below, shift over to the PC.

Why use a PC? – I suppose some comment about saving the rainforests would be a pc comment about use of a PC.  To be honest, my motivations are more selfish.  If it is on PC then I have a lasting record (as long as I back-up my files).  I have the ability to cut, paste, edit, etc. I can actually read what I have written!  I can cut and paste the Bible text from Bible software, quickly study the original languages and paste in helpful comments from commentaries and lexicons.  I sometimes have a list of unused potential illustrations that can be mined when preparing future sermons.

The PC is a helpful tool, but a Bible, some paper and a pen work amazingly well too!

TIM Too

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I previously shared five areas of life and ministry that must be watched as we pursue Total Integrity Management. Here’s one more worthy of pondering:

Do you allow time for the text to work in you first? If you have a schedule that means every message is prepared at the last minute, this is a problem. Last minute may happen sometimes, but is it last minute every time? We need to schedule some gap so that we can study a passage and then allow it to soak for a while before considering how to preach it with relevance to others. Perhaps you should consider a 10-day lead up instead of a 5-day approach. Haddon Robinson, and others, suggest this. Do some initial reading and exegetical work the Thursday ten days before you preach. You can then set it aside until the following Monday or Tuesday, but it will have had some time to soak in. Perpetually rushed preparation is an integrity issue. We must allow time for the passage to work in us, so that through us, we can deliver God’s message with integrity, to others.

TIM in the Preacher’s Life

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Does TQM mean anything to you? These three letters were indelibly marked on my brain in university. I studied business theory when TQM was a big deal. Total Quality Management. The letters are stuck in my head even though the theory is not. However, I’d like us to consider something that matters to us as preachers – TIM. Nothing to do with Paul’s apostolic representative in Ephesus. Total Integrity Management. As preachers we must manage our lives and ministries for total integrity. This reaches far:

1. Personal life. We must be people who are above reproach, living lives that bear the scrutiny of watching eyes. This relates to relationships, fidelity, private interests, hobbies, tax payments, internet use, everything.

2. Preparation for preaching. We should do the study and preparation that people believe we do, and that we suggest we do. There may be short-cuts, and some may be legitimate at times, but watch your integrity. It is legitimate to learn from other preachers, perhaps even to use their wording of an idea, or illustration. But when you take, give credit where appropriate. If you short-circuit your ministry by lifting entire sermons off the internet, at least be honest about it and don’t give the impression you’ve been poring over the text for yourself.

3. The sermon’s connection to the text. We must have the integrity to be sure that our message is legitimately derived from the text we use. There is no excuse for springboard preaching, where the text is a launching point for our own thinking.

4. Illustrational material requires honesty too. It is fine to make up a story, Jesus did it. But be careful not to be dishonest in doing so. You know how to convey a story so people know it is fictional. If you didn’t experience it, don’t act as if you did. If our integrity is compromised in a small story, it is compromised. Even if a story is true, but is very bizarre, be careful. No matter how much you affirm its veracity, if people doubt it, then your integrity is undermined. Is it worth it for that story?

5. Emotional manipulation is not our trade. If the text is genuinely moving, let it do its work. But we are not charlatans who play with emotions to manipulate responses from our listeners. You know if this is a temptation or not.

We need to go for TIM. Ultimately, your integrity is your responsibility. Besides you, only God knows what’s really going on. Ask Him to convict you by His Spirit and keep your TIM on track.