Sunday, March 06, 2005
Preaching that Stick to Your Ribs
Peter over at Stronger Church made a request for input yesterday on how to improve the "take away" value of his preaching. Transforming Sermons was quick to reply in the comments and to encourage more participation at his site by asking, "What does it take for preaching to 'stick'?" which is how this post arrived at it's awful title.
I first heard of Peter when he commented on a post I did about preaching. He was encouraging to me then, even though I am not a preacher, so I am going to speak up even though he is specifically soliciting a other preachers input.
The first input I would have is the same input Transforming Sermons had, because he posted it right after he posted on Peter's inquiry, and that is to link to Adrian Warnock's quote from Charles Spurgeon today. In a nutshell, preach like you mean it. Preach like you personally feel responsible for the souls of all present. Yes, I know the Holy Spirit does the teaching, and the saving, but that can be a cop out. I know I always respond to a sense of urgency from the pulpit, when a preacher communicates not just ideas, but passion.
The other idea I would have was in that original post of mine to which Peter reacted. I said I thought a preacher should be "relational." Remember that whole idea of "degrees of separation?" You know, how many people that you know, knows someone, that knows someone, that.... Anyway, the idea is that no two people are separated by more than six degrees of separation. I think a preacher should never be more than one degree of separation from people in his congregation. I should go on about that to some extent.
Words are words, as Peter points out, media. But words from a friend, that's different. You know what really makes news -- what people talk about. There may be twelve stories on the front page of the paper, but it is the one that most people talk about that has a follow-up printed the next day. It is that relational touch, a friend telling rather than a mere ingestion of media, that makes the story really important. This relational aspect is really a huge part of what makes the blogosphere work, and is certainly what makes swarms happen. When a friend tells me something it is both important, and I want to remember it. I remember because I want to talk to my friend again and it would be a good topic of conversation.
Yes, what I am saying will limit the size of a congregation. So be it. I know even in a moderately sized church a pastor cannot be friends with everyone. But he can be friends with enough people in the congregation that every one in the congregation is separated by only one degree. Thus anyone there is always able to attest to how the words of the preacher have made a difference in the preacher's own life. Anymore degrees of separation and that force is removed. Ideas are ideas, but they have real value when their consequences can be seen in another. This is the other aspect of relational preaching that I find really important.
You want your preaching and teaching to stick? Make a friend.
I first heard of Peter when he commented on a post I did about preaching. He was encouraging to me then, even though I am not a preacher, so I am going to speak up even though he is specifically soliciting a other preachers input.
The first input I would have is the same input Transforming Sermons had, because he posted it right after he posted on Peter's inquiry, and that is to link to Adrian Warnock's quote from Charles Spurgeon today. In a nutshell, preach like you mean it. Preach like you personally feel responsible for the souls of all present. Yes, I know the Holy Spirit does the teaching, and the saving, but that can be a cop out. I know I always respond to a sense of urgency from the pulpit, when a preacher communicates not just ideas, but passion.
The other idea I would have was in that original post of mine to which Peter reacted. I said I thought a preacher should be "relational." Remember that whole idea of "degrees of separation?" You know, how many people that you know, knows someone, that knows someone, that.... Anyway, the idea is that no two people are separated by more than six degrees of separation. I think a preacher should never be more than one degree of separation from people in his congregation. I should go on about that to some extent.
Words are words, as Peter points out, media. But words from a friend, that's different. You know what really makes news -- what people talk about. There may be twelve stories on the front page of the paper, but it is the one that most people talk about that has a follow-up printed the next day. It is that relational touch, a friend telling rather than a mere ingestion of media, that makes the story really important. This relational aspect is really a huge part of what makes the blogosphere work, and is certainly what makes swarms happen. When a friend tells me something it is both important, and I want to remember it. I remember because I want to talk to my friend again and it would be a good topic of conversation.
Yes, what I am saying will limit the size of a congregation. So be it. I know even in a moderately sized church a pastor cannot be friends with everyone. But he can be friends with enough people in the congregation that every one in the congregation is separated by only one degree. Thus anyone there is always able to attest to how the words of the preacher have made a difference in the preacher's own life. Anymore degrees of separation and that force is removed. Ideas are ideas, but they have real value when their consequences can be seen in another. This is the other aspect of relational preaching that I find really important.
You want your preaching and teaching to stick? Make a friend.
