Stage 4 – Passage Idea

Incoherent Preaching

/ Peter Mead / 5 Comments

Very few preachers are incoherent.  Yet many preachers are incoherent.  Before you accuse me of being incoherent, let me explain.  The other day I sat through a sermon from a visiting speaker.  I may be my own worst critic, but I try to be gracious to others.  Sorry.  On this occasion I failed.  Why did I have such a hard time with the message?  Because it did not cohere.

The man was coherent.  No reason to believe otherwise.  Every sentence made sense.  Every word fit in its context.  Yet at a higher level the message was incoherent.  It didn’t stick together.  The pieces may have made sense as distinct units.  But the reason for joining them together was unclear.  At a level higher than words or sentences, the message lacked unity.  All the parts of a message must be coordinated to form a single, unified whole.  Without this careful and deliberate cohesion, at a macro level the message is incoherent. 

The need for unity in a message is not a new idea.  It’s been a big idea since long before big idea preaching was defined.  But just because unity, or coherence, is a long established need in speech formulation, this doesn’t mean that we automatically achieve it.  It takes work to make a message cohere.  It takes hard work to avoid being incoherent!

Imposing Points On a Text?

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

In response to the Lazy Preaching? post, one reader asked the following questions – “Does not one run the risk of ‘imposing’ on the text your desire to extract one point? Should not the number of point(s) be driven by the text in question?” These are good questions. How would you answer them? Here’s a couple of things to bear in mind:

The text is in the driving seat – It is absolutely right to suggest that the text itself should inform the shape as well as the content of a sermon. We are not required to replicate the shape of the text, but that is the best place to start. If the text has two chunks, or three movements, then start off assuming your sermon will too. Then, when designing the sermon, evaluate whether this is the best way to communicate the message to your listeners. So we are not restricted to the shape or order of the text, but moving away from that should be thought through and purposeful.

A literary unit does have one “point” – Let’s not get confused on terminology. Here I am actually referring to the main idea, big idea, proposition, take-home truth or whatever label you prefer. That main idea will then typically be developed in more than one point or movement within the message. So while it would be wrong to impose any structure on a text, it is not wrong to look for the main idea. A true literary unit has a unity of thought. Whether it is a parable, a psalm, a poem, a paragraph in an epistle, a prophetic oracle, a proverb, or whatever, it has one main idea. The logic of communication determines that a unit of thought has inherent unity, and therefore that text can be distilled into one main idea by asking the two key questions – what is this author writing about? And, what is this author saying about what he’s writing about?

In reference to Andy Stanley, I don’t know much about him. I’ve never heard him preach. I just received his preaching book which I’ll review in due course, but all I know so far is what I read in that interview. He states that he preaches one point sermons. I wonder if he means sermons with one clear main idea? I’ll need to listen to him preach or read the book to find out. In reality, I suspect that he would use several movements within a message in order to drive home the one main idea (or point, if you want to use that terminology).

Getting to Grips with the Genres

/ Mike Roth / 1 Comment

Imagine a history teacher that teaches history like it is fiction. Imagine a poetry teacher that teaches poetry like it is math. To do this would be absurd. History is not fiction and poetry is not math. Each subject functions differently. History functions through names, dates, and other facts whereas fiction functions through plot. Poetry functions through imagery, meter, and rhyme whereas math functions through logic, rules, and order. Principle: to appropriately teach these subjects the teacher must let each subject speak.

This principle applies to homiletics. Different genres fill the pages of Scripture. In the Lord’s sovereignty, he chose to use narrative, prophecy, gospel, epistle, apocalyptic, etc. to communicate specific truths. If we use the same sermon form without considering the genre then we mash unique kinds of literature into foreign forms. As preachers, we must allow Biblical genres to speak and even form our sermons.

In following posts over the next few weeks, I will attempt to accomplish two things. First, I will highlight how different Biblical genres function. Second, I will highlight the distinct rhetorical impact different Biblical genres intend.

Prayer, Preaching, Professionalism?

/ Peter Mead / 3 Comments

 

Is there any stage of the preaching process that we should not be bathing in prayer? When people are first exposed to training in homiletics there is often an initial concern. Is this “process” reducing a highly spiritual ministry to a series of stages, techniques and professionalism? That would depend on the instructor, but I’d hope the answer would be no.

We should be praying at every stage. We should prayerfully select the passage and make sure it is a true literary unit. We should prayerfully study the passage and determine author’s purpose and idea. We should prayerfully consider our congregation and determine appropriate sermon purpose, idea, strategy and details. We should even pray about delivery, and of course we should be praying for the people as well as ourselves throughout the process.

Prayer does not result in a bypass around the work. Praying as we select the passage does not mean we will receive direct revelatory guidance about what to preach. Praying during passage study and sermon preparation does not excuse us from the long hours of wrestling with the text or the often grueling work of crafting the preaching idea, and so on. So we don’t pray begging for a hard work bypass. If we do receive an objective direct revelation then we should obey, but prayer is not primarily about that. Prayer is a lot about dependence, about humility, about asking for wisdom as we do our part of His work.

Let us be preachers who do not shy away from the work involved in our ministry, but let us also be preachers who never fail to pray at every stage in the process.

How Not To Preach Every Inspired Word

/ Peter Mead / 4 Comments

As preachers of the Bible it is important that we hold a very high view of God’s Word. Verbal plenary inspiration is the doctrine that affirms the inspiration of the specific words (verbal), every last one of them (plenary). Any position that holds to less than a fully inspired and inerrant canon is a compromise wracked with inconsistency. However, as preachers who hold a high view of Scripture, there are a couple of mistakes we can easily make when preaching God’s Word:

1. Every word is inspired, but a word on its own has little value. That is to say that a word on its own carries only a selection of possible meanings. As Pasquarello puts it, words get their meaning from the company they keep. It is important to preach the words of a text in their context, rather than skimming the passage for the words that supposedly carry extra theological freight and then preaching those words as if divorced from the text. While it may have been fashionable a generation ago to preach a series of word studies, today we must be more aware of the words in their context, and preach the idea of the discourse unit.

2. Every word is inspired, but every word in a passage is not equally weighted. Since every word is inspired it is tempting to merely provide a running explanation phrase-by-phrase through the passage. While this may produce a commentary, it does not produce a good sermon. Recognize that some words function as subordinate to others in a sentence. What are the weighty words that convey the core meaning of the passage? What are the key moments in the narrative on which the whole thing turns? What words have emphasis through their unusual selection, positioning, or repetition? Preach the whole text, but don’t allow the weighty content to be hidden by giving equal time and focus to every subordinate phrase or term.

Peter has responded to a comment on this post.

A Life of Study – Part 2

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Three more suggestions from Fred Craddock on the life of study, with comments:

3. Develop the ability to use small units of time. When you only have a few minutes, redeem the time with brief journal articles, checking biblical references, assembling resources, sequencing material to be read, etc.

4. Regularly read novels, short stories and poetry. Craddock is right when he notes that as preachers we need the input of well-written and imaginative work. We tend to read heavy material written by experts in their field, but usually not experts in the use of language. Yet in order to communicate with compelling and gripping language, we need to be exposed to it. Avoid the cheap thrill stuff, but read well-written literature alongside everything else.

5. Resist the urge to cease studying once a sermon idea emerges. You may have an idea, but does further study strengthen it or disprove it? Allow an idea to stand the test of context and theological consistency. The goal of study is to get at the main idea, but don’t just accept the first attempt at an idea. Make sure it stands some further testing and refinement.

Where to Place “The Reading” – Part 2

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

In part 1 we considered the importance of establishing and underlining the biblical authority of a message.  We underlined the importance of a commitment to expository preaching and the need to reinforce that commitment through attitude and action throughout a sermon.  Now some thoughts on reconsidering the traditional placement of the reading before or at the start of the message:

In some sermons the reading “up front” would be ideal.  If you think through the options and conclude that this would be best for audience, for sermon flow, etc., then do not become a rebel against tradition for the sake of rebellion. Reading first is a good option with much in its favor.

If the tension of the sermon is tied to the unfolding of the text, then perhaps reading the passage as you proceed would be better.  It may be helpful for the sake of clarity if the text is read in its entirety first.  However, this does run the risk of dissipating any tension in the sermon.  A sermon without any inbuilt tension can be as dull as a predictable joke (although with more value).  If the text is a narrative, then it is probably better not to read the resolution of the inbuilt tension before telling the story.  If the sermon contains an element of intrigue, then it also may be wise to split the reading throughout the sermon.  If reading the text and then stating the big idea (or even just the “subject” half of the big idea) leaves listeners feeling as if they could leave at that point because they know what is coming, then perhaps the reading should not have been completed at that moment in the sermon.

If tradition requires or expects an earlier reading, perhaps offer a helpful alternative.  If the text for the message would be best, then by all means have it read earlier.  However, if tension would be lost, select an alternative.  (Be careful also not to let worship leaders steal the tension of a sermon by their pre-message comments!)  For example, many New Testament texts rely heavily on one or two Old Testament texts.  So a sermon in 1st Peter could use a reading from the Old Testament such as Psalm 34 (if the passage is focused on the suffering of God’s people in “exile”) or Isaiah 53 (if the passage is focused on Christ’s passion).  Both passages were heavy on the mind of Peter as he wrote his letter.  If a passage is quoted in the preaching text, perhaps reading that passage in its context would be helpful.

The Holy Spirit and Your Preaching – Part 1

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

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?

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

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 in the Preacher’s Life

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

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.