Religion

Transitions 3

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Spheres2Transitions are a tiny part of a message, but they can make all the difference in terms of being heard properly.  We’ve looked at the first two types of transition.  Let’s ponder the third: concluding transitions.  Or to put it another way, transitions to a conclusion.  This is very biblical, by the way.  I was just looking at Galatians 5:1-12.  I think that is Paul’s transition from his second main point and body of his argument to the conclusion and application phase of his letter.  An abrupt move from main point to conclusion may not be effective.  So?

Concluding Effectively

Review clearly – These would be true of a message conclusion as a whole, but I am speaking of a transition from body to conclusion.  This is a good place to review where we have been together.  Anything more than clear and crisp statements runs the risk of sounding like the development of another element of the message.  Don’t add explanation to this.  Don’t restate in a way that might appear to be development rather than restatement.  Keep this element as clear and punchy as possible.  Try to make the message sound clearer than it did when you preached it!

Regain any drift from relevance – There is always a danger that in the development of the main argument of a message, with all the biblical and theological explanation, that listeners can lose sight of its relevance for them.  This shouldn’t happen if you make every movement relevant and apply as you go, but sometimes you need to give time to explanation.  Lest any be drifting from the moorings of crystal clear relevance, use the transition to underline that this is for us today.  Paul did this in his transition in Galatians 5.  The sermon to the Hebrews reinforces relevance in every transition throughout the sermon.

Avoid apology – I haven’t mentioned this yet, but this applies at any point.  Almost always avoid apology during your preaching.  Some have the habit of half apologising in transitions. “Well, anyway, that could have been clearer, but . . . ” or “I wish we had more time, we haven’t really gotten the point of that section . . .” and so on are not helpful.  There may be occasion for apology.  If you have a cough or weak voice, apologise if you feel it is necessary, but do so confidently.  Basically the listeners will respond to your tone – if you are apologising, they will feel bad.  If you are confident, they will take that on board.  So avoid undermining a message by apologising in some unnecessary way.

Transitions 2

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

Spheres2Transitions are disproportionately significant.  They don’t convey the content of the message, but their critical role can significantly support, or significantly undermine the message as a whole.

Last time I looked at the introductory transitions (A on the image).  What about a transition between two movements in a message?  This is the purest form of transition.

Transitioning Effectively (B)

1. Slow down noticeably.  The sermon is an unsafe vehicle.  There are no seat belts or doors that guarantee your passengers will stay with you.  When you take a turn, make sure they are right there or you’ll leave them in the aftermath of the previous movement.  Slow down through the curves.  Listeners can seem like they are with you at a certain pace of delivery, and they might be able to stay with you in a straight line, but when you go in a new direction they may be unable to keep track and they will be left in a heap with dust settling around them.  Slow down.  Change pace.  Pause.  Make the transition clear.  Sometimes in our anxiety to press on and get through it all we can cut corners at this point (since it isn’t content at this point) and in doing so undermine the whole message.  If you must speed up, do so within a movement, not between them.

2. Look both ways.  That is to say, use the opportunity to provide both review and preview.  Where have we been so far?  Where are we going next?  Just a couple of sentences can make the world of difference.  It is the difference between an enjoyable ride in a nice car with a good driver, and an uncomfortable ride in an overpowered car with an overconfident teen at the wheel.

3. Mark physically.  Slowing down the delivery and reflecting / previewing are helpful.  But why not reinforce the shift in direction by a physical marker?  You could physically switch from one side of the lectern to the other (assuming you don’t hide behind it all the time), you could gesture appropriately, change you orientation by a few degrees, etc.  Subtle reinforcement in this way can communicate very effectively.

Notice that I haven’t suggested simply saying, “Now for my next point…”  If you have to, fine, but consider that this may have a soporific effect if the listeners don’t have confidence in you.  Good transitions should give a sense of momentum and progress.  Bad or patronizing ones can either lose people, or reinforce the sense of boredom.  Maybe a minute of your message will be taken up by this kind of transition . . . but this minute could be make or break!

Transitions

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Spheres2The bulk of preparation effort usually goes into the main content of a message.  We wrestle with the text, we allow it to shape our theology, we think through how that content marks our lives, we ponder all this in light of who will hear the message.  This is all work on the points, or movements, in a message.

Then perhaps we ponder illustrative material to help make sense of those movements.  We consider how to introduce the message.  We might even give some thought to how we will conclude it.

But often there is too little thought given to the transitions between movements in a message.  These are represented by A, B, C on the diagram.  Too little attention given to these little moments will result in too great a negative effect on the whole message.  Great messages bomb because of poor transitions.

Here are some nudges to help us better transition during our preaching:

Introducing Effectively (A)

1. Emphasize clearly.  The listeners need to know that you are moving from whatever introductory material you have given into the first movement of the message.  You can do a star jump, pause for two minutes and turn to look at a powerpoint slide.  Or you can be less awkward.  Vocal variation can serve to underline your shift effectively: perhaps a pause, a change of pace, a variation in pitch.  You can say, “So for my first point…” but that is probably hinting at dullness already.  But something along those lines could be helpful: “So let’s see how the passage launches . . .” could work, as long as people catch what you just said (so think through how to add emphasis).

2. Preview appropriately.  What is appropriate depends on the type of movement that will follow.  If you are presenting a declaration and then supporting it, as in a typical deductive message, then you might be able to simply offer a preview of the point by stating it and telling what will follow (i.e.explanation, application, etc.).  By previewing and then re-stating the point as you progress, listeners will spot the entry into a section of the message.  If the point is the development in a narrative, then you may not want to give it all away at the transition.  You need to decide how to make sure people are with you as you enter in.  Perhaps a question that will be answered – some variation on “so what happened next?” might work.

3. Introduce confidently.  Whatever you are about to say, convey confidence in how you introduce it.  Don’t apologise.  Don’t downplay in some supposed act of humility.  “Oh, I guess I should probably say a few words about . . . ”  Uh, no.  “Just a disconnected story first before we get into . . .”  Again, no.  “I wasn’t sure where to start, so. . .”  No.

Legitimate Exemplar Preaching

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exampleThis week we have been pondering the use of examples in preaching.  I have offered warning, rather than prohibition.  There are dangers in offering examples to copy, whether that be post-biblical characters, biblical characters, or even Christ himself.  Yet there is also the positive side that must be pondered.

Paul told the Corinthians, “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”  He told the Philippians to “join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”  He affirmed the Thessalonians for becoming imitators of Paul and his team.  The writer to the Hebrews urges them to imitate the faith of their leaders.  John tells the church to imitate good, for whoever does good is from God, but those who do evil have not seen God.

Is this post a retraction of the previous three?  Not at all.  There is a legitimate perspective on example in the Christian life.  In fact, it is at the very core of our calling.

Jesus, the Rabbi extraordinaire, called the most unlikely of folk to follow him.  These weren’t the elite boys with stacks of scrolls and wire-rimmed glasses that had sat at the front in the synagogue school and impressed the rabbi enough to be able to ask to follow him.  When that day came, these boys slipped away and back to the shores to work with their Dads in the family business.  Not the worst option in life, but not the elite option.  They left behind the brightest and best to be followers of the rabbi.

To be a follower, or disciple, of a rabbi is like an apprenticeship on steroids.  It means living with, learning from, copying, becoming like, being shaped by.  It means being so connected relationally that you aren’t becoming an impersonator who takes on a fake persona, but a disciple whose values, whose beliefs, whose conduct is shaped by the one you follow.

Jesus called the most unlikely folk, and he asked them to follow him!  He still does that: what a privilege is ours!  To be so relationally tied to Him that our lives are shaped from the inside out.  You can’t be a disciple from a distance.  You can’t be disciple from merely observing externals.  It takes that close relational bond to make the process work.

So Jesus commissioned his disciples to make disciples: to bring others into that close bond that would lead to life transformation.  Paul was calling the Corinthians and others to the same.  Follow me as I follow Christ.

That is where example is legitimate.  It isn’t copying behaviour as if that will shape the inside of a life.  It is being in relationship in such a way that hearts beat as one, values become owned, and life spills outward even into the area of conduct.  Inside-out transformation is at the heart of the Christian message.  Hence the importance of the Spirit who unites our spirit to His.  Hence we are to draw others not to some sort of cognitive conversion and impersonation practice, but into full discipleship with Christ Himself.

Beware of Exemplar Persona Illustrations

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

exampleThis week I have been raising a warning flag toward preaching that makes Christ, or biblical characters, just an example to copy.  While both may be offered as example, and biblical writers do just that at times, still there is always a danger of seeking to motivate a performance approach to Christianity that is not birthed from the inside-out transformation of being in union with Christ.  There’s another area worth a mention: the use of non-biblical persons as examples.

It is so easy to offer people famous or unknown, past or present, with an implied “copy that” tone.  It could be the prayer warrior who rises at 4am, or the self-sacrificial missionary who gives up all to go and serve, or the faith-filled achiever, or whatever.  Again, there could well be real value in offering such an example.  However,

1. Be careful not to paint a caricature.  Humans are usually a mixed bag of motives.  So while in anecdotal form an individual may appear perfectly selfless and wonderful, the reality is probably not so flawless.  Even the greatest deeds and sacrifices can be made for the wrong reasons, which is what Paul addresses at the start of 1Corinthians 13.  The greatest feats can count for nothing.  So be careful not to imply that feat/deed/sacrifice/effort can trump the heart issue.  We do need to inspire a new generation with those who’ve gone before, but let’s be sure to inspire with the faith and relationship that others have with Christ, spilling into those amazing anecdotes.  Let’s invite people into the fullness of that kind of connection with Christ that can spill out in numerous unique ways in our lives today.

2. Be careful not to endorse a copycat approach.  Just to reinforce the point made above, let’s be sure to invite people into the relationship with Christ by His Spirit that can spill out in wonderful ways.  Simply copying the performance of another will not bring about the necessary heart transformation that will allow such a feat to count as anything (in 1Corinthians 13 terms such empty performance is “nothing”).  Performance is not the key to Christian living–it may be the fruit, but it is not the source.

Beware of Exemplar Homo-Biblicas Preaching

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

exampleYesterday we looked at the danger of treating Christ as our role model.  Today I’ve kept up the pseudo latin title pattern (since Christians seem to love latin in the blogosphere) and want to zero in on a related danger: treating biblical characters as examples to copy.

Surely the biblical narratives were written both to instruct us and to warn us, therefore they are legitimately to be treated as examples in our preaching?  Yes, but there is still a danger that we fall short of preaching the Bible when we fall into a simple, “go thou and do likewise” approach.  Points to ponder:

Paul probes deeper than behaviour in 1Corinthians 10:1-13 – There he states that there is example in what happened to characters in the Old Testament, but the purpose of that example is not to push the Corinthians simply toward good conduct.  These were examples, “that we might not desire evil as they did.”  The people of Israel all “did” the same things, but the problem was with their desires.  They wanted evil, and they did not please God.  The passage heads toward a warning for those who are self-confident (a real danger for those who are diligent to obey conduct-focused preaching!)

Paul pushes beyond behavior in Romans 15:1-7 – The Old Testament was written for instruction, but the goal goes beyond conformity to conduct codes.  Paul is pushing for a vertical and horizontal outworking in the context of relationships.  The fruit of the instruction is supposed to be hope, mutual harmony and participation in the worship of the Father through the Son.

Biblical characters are responsive humans, not conduct models – In every narrative we see real people living in a standard set of circumstances.  That is, they live in a fallen world, swimming in the post-Genesis 3 world of autonomy from God.  And they live in a world where God is inviting them to respond to His Word.  Some respond in fear, others in faith.  To simply look at a godly individual and then make the application to go copy their conduct is like telling a small boy to watch motorcycle racing and then go do the same on his bicycle.  He may deceive himself by leaning forward and making engine noises, but the reality is missing.  We have a lot of people in churches acting like Christians, but the performance is a charade because the reality of a living union with Christ by His Spirit has been overlooked in the effort to act like virtuous biblical heroes.

Godly conduct is profoundly important.  But for it to be real, it must come from the depths of a heart vivified and responsive to Christ, it will not come from copying the externals of exemplary individuals while ignoring the inner realities of those people as they walked with God.

Beware of Exemplar Christi Preaching

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

exampleOk, the latin in the title was completely unnecessary, but perhaps it provokes the question: what am I referring to?  It is a common and not altogether inappropriate form of preaching.  It is probably occurring in a significant number of sermons every Sunday.  It can even be justified biblically.  But I’d like to wave a warning flag.

Exemplar Christi preaching is where Jesus is offered as an example to us.  An example for us to copy.  He is the model, so go thou and do likewise.  Some quick points to provoke our pondering:

1. He is an example to us, but first and foremost he is Christ to us.  Jesus did not come primarily to offer a role model, but to give himself in order to bring us into a relationship with God.  In that relationship he is exemplary in lots of ways, but the goal is fellowship, not cloning.

2. Exemplar preaching tends to focus on outward conduct, but the Bible treats us as inside-out creatures.  There is a longstanding tradition of pursuing spirituality by an outside-to-in approach.  Do the right thing and everything else will follow.  The problem is that some longstanding traditions trace their roots right back to a hissing individual in a garden.  The Bible points to the inner issues of heart and spirit . . . is the heart transformed by the presence of the life and love of God, the Spirit?  If it isn’t, then out of it will spew all forms of ungodliness, including self-righteous pseudo-godliness.

3. Exemplar preaching points to empowerment, but often an inadequate form of it.  Of course, we can only copy Christ by the empowerment of the Spirit.  However, the Spirit’s empowerment is often portrayed as a battery recharge for our personal efforts, rather than the very presence of life itself due to our union with Christ by His Spirit.

4. Make application an issue of response, not just an issue of copying.  Preach Christ and encourage response to Him.  Don’t just preach Christ and then, typically, encourage replication of His behaviours.  We go into our mission in this world with Christ, not just copying Him (I am with you always).  We approach and worship the Father with Christ.  We seek to build up the church with Christ.  He certainly is an example to us, but we don’t go into the week with an image of a distant Jesus in our minds.  We go into the week in relationship to a present Jesus in our hearts by His Spirit, and that makes all the difference in the world.

Three Applicational Emphases in Preaching Deuteronomy

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

OpenScroll5DeuChristians tend to view the books of Moses as a flat collection of laws.  Many tend not to distinguish the progression within the books, both in terms of the progression of revelation of law (in response to progressive sin and failure), as well as the progression in generations.  Deuteronomy is anything but flat.  Here we have a new generation and the aged Moses giving his parting-shot sermon to the people he has seen grow up in the wilderness.  There is a passion in Moses and a unique opportunity set before the people.  Don’t miss the following applicational emphases in the book:

1. God’s loving instruction.  It would be a gross misrepresentation to turn Deuteronomy into a flat book of laws and codes.  Through Moses God is communicating a loving desire for the people to thrive as His people, to be blessed, to prosper in the land, etc.  It is easy to communicate threat without love, or warning without motive.

2. The danger of comfort.  Surely a people who had watched their parents die in the wilderness, who had heard stories and perhaps remembered their miraculous deliverance from Pharoah and his armies, who had seen the miraculous as children and as adults, surely such a people would be well situated to thrive in the land before them? Deuteronomy repeatedly warns of the dangers of forgetting.  We humans can struggle to remember.  Especially when things are going well and we are comfortable.  Perhaps Deuteronomy should be preached in our culture once a year?  It wouldn’t be wasted!

3. The motives of obedience.  God certainly lays out for the people the expected obedience.  What would it look like for them to be faithful to the marital arrangement that is set before them?  Obedience, of course.  But Deuteronomy never lets us settle for an outward conformity.  Just as in a human marriage there is no satisfaction in ritual and plastic obedience, so in relationship with God the core issue must be the heart.  That is what needs to be circumcised.  How easily we turn loving instruction into self-concerned ritualistic obedience.  Even in these days God knew that ultimately it would take a prophet greater than Moses to capture the hearts of a straying humanity.

Delivery Dynamics: Are You You?

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Microphone2One of the biggest challenges in sermon delivery is being yourself.  Preaching is not about performing.  It is not about taking on a new persona.  A pulpit voice should be a thing of the past.  People don’t trust performances.

Are you you?  Three thoughts to ponder:

1. Being Natural Is Not Natural – When we walk up to the pulpit we step into an unnatural environment.  People sitting in rows and looking up at us is not normal.  Consequently, our presentation will be anything but natural if we just “go with the flow” and try to be ourselves.  It takes work for movement, gesture, expression, voice, etc., to come across as natural and authentic.  Remember, if people feel it is frozen, forced or fake, they will subconsciously not trust the preacher.

2. Breaking the Froze-Zone – The default reaction is to freeze.  I have heard many people say something like this, “when I ran through it earlier it was so natural and free-flowing, but then I went to preach it and I froze.”  That is normal.  Our voices become restricted to a narrow zone of pitch with a constant level of volume and a clipped (often too rapid) pace.  Our gestures become limited in variety and extent.  Our expressions become as fixed as a wedding photo shoot, typically without the smile.  Our movements become rigid and awkward.  This is natural.  Thus we need to work to break out of that fro-zone in order to come across without conveying nervousness and tension.

3. Don’t Be Too Much – Some people are more successful than others at breaking the frozen effect.  They can end up going too far.  While it is true that gestures need to be larger to look natural in front of a larger group of listeners, it is possible to go over the top.  This can be physical excess, or vocal excess, or even content excess (beware of feeding off nervous energy and turning into a bad comedian).  Dare I say it, some personalities are naturally over the top and putting them in a pulpit can make for an uncomfortable situation.  If there is a chance that this applies to you, pray and then ask some trusted advisers.  Not easy, but better to know than to unknowingly make others suffer.