Stage 6 – Message Idea

Ideas that Stick – Part 3

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So far we’ve seen the principles of simplicity, unexpectedness and concreteness.  Here are the last three principles from Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath.

Principle 4 – Credibility. An idea must carry it’s own credentials, thereby having internal credibility.  The Heath’s suggest this comes from concreteness, as opposed to vague, statistical or abstract statement.  However, influencing an audience with an idea involves the support materials chosen as well as the statement of the idea itself.  Using real people in support material (eg stories of real people) adds credibility to an idea (more so than quotes from experts or celebrities, although those have a place).

Principle 5 – Emotional. The best way to make people care about an idea is to help them feel something.  Again, concreteness matters, for we are wired to feel things for people, not for abstractions.  Excess may paralyze (for instance, the overwhelming need of the masses), but an individual will stir the heart.

Principle 6 – Stories.  Stories are like flight simulators for the brain, according to the book.  As preachers we may be preaching a story anyway, but even if not, it might be worth considering how to use the power of story to simulate action in response to the idea.

The summary of the book is certainly worth pondering for preachers wrestling with ideas.  According to the Heaths, for an idea to stick it has to be useful and lasting.  A “sticky” idea makes the audience pay attention, understand, remember, agree/believe, care, and be able to act on it.  This list translates into unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, story-related ideas communicated with succinct clarity that has the simplicity and profundity of a proverb.

They were talking business.  But ideas are ideas, and if we handle the Bible well, then the ideas we are handling and presenting should be worth more effort than any name brand!

Ideas that Stick – Part 2

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So a “sticky” idea is simple, that is both stripped to its core essence and yet profound.  In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath share further principles that can bridge the gap from the business world to homiletics.  How can we craft main ideas that will stick?

Principle 2 – Unexpectedness.  Surprise increases alertness and focus, it grabs attention.  Consequently, when an idea can incorporate an element of unpredictability, it can generate both interest and curiosity.  This is not to suggest that an idea needs a gimmicky element.  The profound nature of a proverb resists the tacky nature of a gimmick.

Principle 3 – Concreteness. The authors again draw on the concept of a proverb (in their case, they are using proverbs such as “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” rather than Solomonic statements).  Concreteness suggests that profound truth be communicated in terms of human actions, sensory information, concrete language.  In our circles we might refer to communicating as low on the ladder of abstraction as possible.  After all, life is not abstract, so relevant truth need not be presented only in the abstract.  Some might take this to mean putting the cookies on the lower shelf, but that may miss the point and merely dumb down an idea.  It’s more about presenting an idea concretely – cookies and shelves, rather than taking a feast of biblical truth and turning it into a quick sugary snack.

In part 3 we will finish the list.

Ideas that Stick

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In our approach to preaching (sometimes labeled the Big Idea approach), the main idea of the sermon is critical.  The idea is the core essence of a sermon that acts as boss over every other detail.  The main idea is like an arrow that is fired toward the target, and you want it to stick.  Consequently, anything I find about shaping a good idea is interesting to me.

Consider, for instance, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, by Chip and Dan Heath.  It’s not about preaching.  It’s about business.  One of the authors is a prof of organizational behavior and the other is a business consultant.  The focus is on business ideas, but they make some good points for us as preachers too.  After all, wouldn’t we love for the ideas we work so hard to craft as we study the Bible to be preaching ideas that “catch on” because they are memorable and clear?

In the next few posts I’ll share and apply the main principles from Made to Stick.

Principle 1 – Be Simple. The main idea in a sermon does not need to be dumbed down, but it does need to be stripped to the core of the idea, its critical essence.  The Heath’s do not simply teach that shorter is better.  A sound-bite is not the ideal.  According to the Heath’s, what is the ideal?  A proverb.  That which is both simple and profound.  We should be looking for the same.  Our initial attempts at stating the idea of a passage are usually both inaccurate and excessively long.  We must work to make the idea accurate and simplify it in order to get at the core essence.  Perhaps we would do well to aim for proverbial-like main ideas.  What do you think?

I’ll share more principles in part 2.

A Ninth Stage?

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I like the eight-stage approach to sermon preparation we use on this site.  It makes sense.  It works.  Sometimes I’m tempted to add a stage, but I think I’ll stick with eight.  Yet if I were to add a stage, what would it be?

It could be something to do with the invitation to preach that comes before the eight-stages.  Perhaps I’ll develop that thought in the days ahead.  I suppose you could make a case for adding delivery as a stage.  After all, delivery of the sermon is critical.  But then again, if these are the stages of preparation, then really it would need to be something about preparing to deliver, rather than the actual delivery.  Perhaps I’ll develop that thought too.

At this point in time, if I were to add a stage, it would come between stages 4 and 5.  After grasping the idea of the passage, before attempting to develop a message, it’s time for audience analysis.  This is critical.  The very definition of expository preaching I teach incorporates the notion of relevance to specific listeners.  How is relevance possible without consideration of the audience?  It may be the first time you preach to them, or the thousandth, but it is worth considering them and the timing of the sermon to them during each preparation.

I haven’t added it as a stage.  I still use and teach eight stages.  But I have added it as a category.  So if you click on Audience Analysis on the menu to the right, you will find previous posts on this important issue.

Don’t Say Too Much

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My post last Sunday concerned preaching like it is your first message and your last.  I meant something specific under both of these points, and was not referring to the negative elements of each.  In reality your last sermon might be foggy with deteriorated thinking faculties, bitter with built up hurts, disconnected through losing touch, etc.  Your first sermon might have been messy through lack of training, stumbling through excessive nerves, etc.  But one of the comments on last Sunday’s post makes a very worthy point.

Most of us, in our first sermon, tried to say too much.  We tried to cram in all we knew on that subject.  We tried to miss nothing, preached dense and probably missed everyone listening.  Keep that in mind today.  Don’t try and say so much that you end up effectively saying nothing.  Don’t feel the need to prove how many hours of exegetical work you put in, or what exegetical bunny trails you pursued to no avail.  Say one thing, and say it well.  Say it clear.  Say it more than once.  But don’t say too much!

Remember the Main Thing

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It’s easy to be overwhelmed as a preacher.  So many things to keep in mind.  The different aspects of delivery, built on the different elements of a sermon, not to mention the multiple facets of biblical study.  You pour in whatever hours you can find in order to try to understand the passage, then to shape a sermon that will accurately and effectively communicate the meaning of that passage to your listeners with some degree of relevance to their lives.  And maybe the many details feel overwhelming.

It’s easy to get caught up in the introduction, the conclusion, the illustrations, the support materials, the elements of style, effective delivery and so on.  These all matter.  These are all important, but they are all details.  The best delivery you can conjure is hypocrisy without a solid message to preach.  The best message flesh in the world doesn’t look good unless it is on a well-formed skeleton.  And the best bones in the world only make sense as an outline when there is a master design involved.  And that master notion needs to be worthy of all the work.

Delivery makes the most of a good sermon.  The flesh of the sermon makes a skeleton of an outline into an attractive and compelling being. But the skeleton only makes sense if it is serving the main idea of the message – each bone supporting the unity of the message, each detail moving the message forward toward a goal.

I’m not undermining the importance of any sermonic detail.  Details of the sermon and details of delivery, are important, but they are details.  Unless there is a core concept, a big idea, a central proposition, whatever you want to call it.  Unless there is that main idea derived from effective study of the passage to the best of your ability, all pursued in dependence on the Spirit of God.  Unless there is that, there are only details.  Random details.  Remember the main thing.  The main idea is your goal in Bible study.  Then that main idea is boss of the message.  The main idea is the main thing.  Let’s remember that.

Preparation Place

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A good sermon in the pulpit will reflect hours of work in the study.  Hours of prayerful reading, careful thinking and sometimes tearful wrestling through the process.  But no rule says preparation has to happen at the desk.  In fact, the desk can be a place of distraction!

Personally I tend to work either at home at my desk, or at a friend’s house (quieter).  However, there are times when I find I need to prepare somewhere else.  Not because I have to, but because it helps.  I sometimes think and preach through a sermon while driving (sorry for the carbon footprint!), or on a walk, or pacing around in my living room.  One time I had to answer questions from the police about what I was doing at such and such a time (“Uh, I was preaching a sermon while staring out of the window, officer!”) – I happened to fail to see anything suspicious as a crime took place down the street, but my bizarre excuse precluded further questioning!

Anyway, where do you find preparation works best for you?  Driving, walking, pacing, sitting in a Starbucks to see and sense the reality of people?  There are no rules here, but I am interested!

For Improvement Just Do This

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It is easy to feel pressure to preach better. We put the pressure on ourselves. Others put the pressure on us, often unwittingly. Perhaps a lack of apparent response in recent months. Perhaps comments about other preachers. Perhaps the big shots on the radio. Perhaps a renewed passion to preach well that has stirred within.

When the pressure to improve is felt, things can often seem overwhelming. After all, there are so many books, so many ideas, so many aspects of effective preaching to consider, indeed, so many preaching traditions to learn from. Maybe you skim through previous posts on this site, or other sites, or magazines, or podcasts, etc. Perhaps you let your mind go back to seminary and you recall all the instructions you received there. It can all be so overwhelming.

This may sound overly simplistic, but just do this: prayerfully endeavor to do the basics well. Try to study the passage effectively so that you are clear on the structure, the author’s main idea and purpose in writing. Try to think through your sermon purpose in light of both the passage and the congregation. Try to determine a clear main idea (doesn’t have to be an all-time great one), a clear and simple structure, a way to start that will make listeners want to hear the rest of the sermon and a way to finish so that the impact of the text will be felt in a specific area of their life. Do the basics well. You’ll probably find the pressure lifts because your preaching is much closer to what you want it to be!

Preaching Longer Narratives

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Nathan asked about preaching longer narratives, such as the narratives of Daniel.  Last week I preached Daniel chapter 2 and the book of Esther (10 chapters!), so I’ve been thinking about this recently.  Here are my thoughts, I’d love to hear anything you would add:

Even if it is long, preach a literary unit. Longer narratives can stretch through many verses and multiple scenes.  Unless the scenes are really sub-plots that can stand on their own, I would suggest trying to preach the whole narrative.  While this may create some challenges, it is still better to deal with an entire narrative than risk misunderstanding and misapplying a part-narrative.

Tell the whole story, but perhaps read selectively. In the case of the Daniel 2 message, the leader of the service had a major chunk of the passage read before I got up to preach.  In the case of Esther, I read certain paragraphs and verses as I told the story.  While we want to honor the text and certainly encourage people to read it through later, the weakness in extended reading is actually our reading rather than the text itself.

The challenge is actually the same as for any passage. The challenge we face in preaching a longer narrative is, in one respect, no different than any other passage.  Which details will receive in-depth attention, and which elements or sections can be summarized to maintain flow and unity?  A longer narrative calls on our skill in big picture exegesis and compelling story-telling, but in many ways the process remains the same – study the passage, determine the main idea and purpose, define purpose and main idea for the sermon and shape it strategically, etc.

Creating Conceptual Categories vs Contextualizing

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John Piper wrote on his blog this week about the danger of over-zealous contextualizing.  What he means by this is the reaching for points of connection so that the message of the Bible can fit into the thinking of the listener.  We sometimes have to create conceptual categories that may be missing from the mental frameworks of our listeners.

He raises an important point.  I would suggest that we have to think through whether we are preaching concepts that are driven by the Bible text, or preaching Bible texts to support concepts driven by our system of theology.  When we preach a Bible passage, our task is to communicate the concept conveyed by that text.  According to Robinson’s definition, expository preaching is the communication of a biblical concept … applied to the listeners.

Certainly, preaching is more than communicating a helpful principle or tip for life.  Preaching involves communicating concepts that may actually reframe the way our listeners perceive reality.  For instance, if you are preaching on the armor of God in Ephesians 6, don’t present it as a helpful tip for times of testing (that may prove helpful if people happen to remember the message).  Rather preach that we live in a constant Ephesians 6 reality and people are either appropriately dressed or vulnerably naked.  People often don’t perceive reality as a constant spiritual battle, so we should help to shift that wrong perception.