Remember that you are not preaching to some kind of super-saintly collection of elite spiritual warriors. You are preaching to ordinary people. Ordinary people have doubts that they don’t think they’re supposed to have. Ordinary people generally feel tired and short on motivation. Ordinary people often have fears that may be unfounded but still feel ever so real when they lie awake at night. Ordinary people think they struggle, but everyone else has it all together in life. Ordinary people sin. Ordinary people, even after responding to the gospel of grace, still feel that their standing before God depends on their own effort and spiritual “success.” Ordinary people already feel guilty about several things, not least their lack of proactive witnessing. Ordinary people are very ordinary. This has implications in how you present yourself, how you present the message, and how it is supposed to intersect with their lives. We preach to very real and very ordinary people.
Religion
Great Expectations
Perhaps you have experienced it. Great times of prayer. Real passionate prayer and even a sense of spiritual breakthrough, all in the context of a forthcoming sermon. I remember times when I would preach through a message ahead of time, then pray for the people and the event at which it would be preached. I remember times of great excitement, great expectation. Maybe you’ve had those times too? Maybe you’ve also had that let down feeling when the real event happened and the sermon and the response and the atmosphere was all so normal.
It is easy to let the normal-ness of ministry diminish our sense of expectation. It is as if we don’t really expect people to be transformed or the Spirit of God to be at work. It is understandable, but it is wrong. As Haddon Robinson has put it, “we’re handling dynamite, and we didn’t expect it to explode!” The Spirit of God is at work, the Word of God is powerful, and whether we see it or not, we should prepare and pray with great expectation. (What about the disappointments and struggles that come internally after we preach? We pour them out to God and then press on, daring to dream again, daring to pray big and preach big for a big God!)
The Preacher, The Worship Leader
In many churches there is a separation of sermon and worship. Both are seen to occur in the service, but they are perceived to be distinct elements. In some churches the service feels like two events – the song service and the sermon. In other churches the preacher is expected to lead the whole service whether or not the preacher is capable or desirous of the responsibility!
I hope we would agree that worship is more than song-singing. Actually, worship is about revelation of God and response to God. While revelation of God need not be restricted to the sermon, it should surely include the sermon. So the sermon plays a role in the worship of the church.
This has all sorts of possible implications in respect to structuring a church service and planning the interaction of sermon and song. For example, what comes after the sermon? It can be a horrible feeling to preach a sermon and then see people switch off and switch back to normal life during the token singing of a closing song (sometimes a sermon and its application needs space to “soak” in). Equally it can be wholly disappointing to be lifted up through a sermon and then not given the opportunity to respond in well-chosen and well-led song.
I feel that as preachers we need to recognize our role as worship leaders, yet at the same time recognize the wonderful ministry of those capable in leading response through music. As a preacher I am a worship leader, yet I know so well that there are others who can lead worship so much better than I. We need each other.
The Pieces of Style
One last post prompted by Bryan Chappell’s book, Christ-Centered Preaching, from the appendix on style (pp340-343). Chappell advocates a preaching style that is:
Natural – natural expression avoids pretense and artificiality. A personal, humble, natural style communicates care, transparency and acceptance (of self and others).
Plain – we should be as clear as possible. People may be overwhelmed by complex communication, but they appreciate clarity. Great preachers preach so people can understand.
Genuine – don’t hide yourself, but chose to be appropriately transparent in doubts, struggles and fears. We should have clear empathy and reality in our presentation.
Creative – be loving enough to anticipate the ebb and flow of concentration in your listeners and creatively seek to help them engage.
Courageous – have the courage to let the Bible speak for itself, not pumping in your own authority, but neither apologizing for the tough stuff it serves up. In an appropriate manner, have the courage to preach the Word.
The Connection Counts
Preaching to the same people all the time is quite different to preaching to different people. I have the privilege of regular preaching in our home church, but also regular preaching to different churches and groups of people in my role with OM. I had an interesting experience recently that highlighted the importance of a preacher’s relational connection with the congregation.
Last year we spent a month on one of the OM ships while it was in the UK. This year I visited another of the ships for a quick four-day visit. I gave the same presentation on the subject of guidance that I did last year. It was almost identical. In fact, it was probably better since I took onboard a fair critique I received last year and adjusted that element this time. However, the response was very different. Last year I had numerous conversations after the presentation, and there was an openness toward the presentation and thankfulness for the session. This year there were some positive responses, but a noticeably higher level of negative reaction and outright rejection of the teaching. What was the cause?
Perhaps the people were different. No two groups of listeners are the same, and it is possible that the different situation onboard meant the listeners responded differently. Equally, it is possible that although content was the same, my manner of delivery was different. While there may be elements of both of these, I think the main issue was something else.
Timing. Last year I was onboard three weeks before I addressed this potentially controversial subject. People had heard me speak, connections had occurred, relationships were forming. This year it was scheduled as the first session. No history, no connection, no relationships . . . and a much more negative response.
If you preach to the same people every week, recognize the importance your connections and relationships have in regard to your preaching. If you are preaching to people who don’t know you, be aware of the risks that come when connection can only come from the delivery itself. Empathy and connection count whether people know you or not, and we are wise to think through the implications of this in our preaching.
Illustrate With Pastoral Care – Part 2
The rest of the list begun in part 1. Most of this is not new to any of us, but it’s always good to take stock and make sure bad habits have not crept in unawares!
Poke fun at no one but self – just because people may laugh at the joke, this does not justify ridiculing ethnic groups, dialects, political parties, gender, age, or specific individuals.
Share the spotlight – don’t be the hero of your illustration, and don’t be the focus too often either.
Demonstrate taste and respect sensibilities – generally avoid the four “b’s” – birthing, blood, bedrooms and bathrooms! And don’t use profanity.
Finish what you begin – don’t leave people hanging with a story. Unresolved story elements can become dominant in listener’s thoughts.
Illustrate With Pastoral Care
I’m enjoying another read-through of Bryan Chappell’s Christ-Centered Preaching. He gives a helpful list of guidelines for using illustrations pastorally (p203-4). Half today, and half in part two:
Get the facts straight – handling facts well instills confidence in the listener, but referring to the “95 theses of Martin Luther King” doesn’t.
Beware of untrue or incredible illustrations – don’t present it as true if it is not. Also don’t present as true even if it is, but people will doubt it. Credibility is too important.
Maintain balance – not too long and not too many on top of each other.
Be real – too much E.M.Bounds and George Mueller can present an unreal view of what it means to live a spiritual life today.
Don’t carelessly expose, disclose or embarrass – watch out for tacit approval of entertainment that may be “unapproved” by parents in the congregation. And be very careful not to disclose confidences or embarrass people present (family as well as people in the church!)
The Form of Structure
Bryan Chappell makes the comment in his book, Christ-Centered Preaching (p162), that while the structure of a sermon is not the most important question, it is one of the most common questions he is asked when teaching preaching. Having given specific examples as the starting point for preachers, he then recognizes the great variety of options available to preachers. The only constraint he gives are four criteria that allow different sermon shapes or structures to represent Scripture well and strike effectively at the human heart. Every outline should be:
Faithful to the text – accurately representing the movement and meaning of the passage.
Obvious from the text – not imposed on the passage, but evident from it for the sake of those following you with the Bible on their laps.
Related to a Fallen Condition Focus – Chappell’s distinctive element of the FCF, which thereby allows connection between human need and divine grace in the gospel.
Moving toward a climax – which encompasses both the need for order and progression.
Don’t Treat Everything As Essential – Part 2
So, three more issues that are non-essential in defining expository preaching. Let’s not allow our passion for preaching become a passion to prove our preferences are the only legitimate approach to expository preaching!
Preaching Attire – Some people make a big issue out of ties and jackets (“we are dressing for an appointment at the palace” kind of arguments). Others are passionate the opposite way (“we are dressing to connect with the culture” kind of arguments). It’s not an issue worth dying for, so I try to dress according to expectations in the church. As someone who preaches in many places, I recognize that for most people, their own church is the only place they tend to go and so it is natural that their view of such issues is generally narrower.
Preaching Props – If you look around this site you will see that I am a fan of no-notes well-prepared preaching. Others advocate for notes, brief or full. Others are in support of manuscripts. I have moved from notes to no-notes, but it is not a central issue. Can a preacher be expository with a manuscript, or with notes, of course! Which is most effective? That’s a good question to think through carefully (rather than defaulting to what is comfortable). But “effective” is not the same as “core issue!”
Visual Aids – Some people have passionately tried to convince me that we should all use powerpoint in our preaching. I see as many problems as benefits with powerpoint preaching, but this is not a core issue. Can a preacher be expository using powerpoint, or giving notes to the congregation, or using video clips during the sermon, or holding a shepherd’s crook? Of course, but none are required.
What other issues do some become so passionate about that they become “core issues” when really they are not?
Don’t Treat Everything as Essential
There is always a danger, when we are passionate about something, that our passion will run away with us. For instance, a passion for expository preaching can easily be misdirected to areas that are not critical issues. The nature of the Bible, the importance of effective communication, the spiritual and divine work in genuine preaching, the need for appropriate relevance, the nature of the gospel – these are key issues for me. Here are a few issues that are not critical in my opinion, although we all might be tempted to make them core issues! Three issues today, three more tomorrow, and what would you add?
Bible Version – I have my preference and I think I have some solid justification for my preference. But this is not an issue I’ll fight over. I tend to preach from the pew Bible in the church – that way most people are looking at the same thing. If the church expresses a preference, then I honor that. If they want The Message, or the King James Version, I suppose I will use that. (In my preparation I will use my preferred versions and original languages, then shift to the version for preaching in the final phase of preparation.)
Length of Sermon – A church may want an hour, or they may want twenty minutes. While I am not known for immaculate time-keeping, I am never trying to make an issue out of this. Some people seem to think anything less than thirty-five minutes is not expository preaching at all. Others are passionate in their view that people can’t concentrate beyond twenty-five minutes. I think both are wrong, but I won’t make an issue out of it!
Form of Sermon – Only verse-by-verse is true preaching. Only deductive sermons are expository. Only narrative preaching connects with people. There are so many narrow views around. Some seem to think that their sermon shape came down from the mount with the blueprint for the tabernacle. I do not support the notion that expository preaching, by definition, implies any particular form. Expository preaching is a philosophy of preaching. The form of the sermon is my choice as the preacher – what will be most effective for communicating the main idea and aiming toward the sermonic purpose?
Biblical Preaching 