Public Speaking - Making it look easy (4)

I have heard a lot of boring and ineffective preaching over the years! 

But I have also heard some great preaching.  Nobody sets out to be boring and ineffective, so what is it that makes the difference?  How can you prevent yourself becoming one of those preachers that everyone can’t wait to finish?

In this post, I point the way to just some of the elements that can make preaching real, relevant, and above all effective. 

But what is an effective preach? 

It’s not necessarily one that is entertaining, witty, clever, or theologically sophisticated (though it can have these elements).  It is one in which the preacher accurately portrays God’s message to God’s people in a way they understand, engage with, and which influences them for change.   

For this to happen all the elements of good public speaking should apply (see previous posts) but there is more, number one on the list being your own (the preacher’s) spiritual condition. 

What does God want you to say? 

Your first task as a preacher is to establish what God wants you to say to this congregation at this time.  Of course, you can only do this through prayer in a context of a sound spiritual life.

If you are the regular preacher to the congregation, or even a member of it, you will have a good understanding of its spiritual needs, but what does God want you to present today?  This is a matter of careful thought and prayer.  (This does not preclude the preaching series; the decision is just earlier in the process.)

If you don’t know the congregation, it becomes harder, but a discussion with your host will usually start off your thought processes.  (And, as a visitor, you may have the advantage of being able to issue a more controversial challenge than is always possible in the local setting.)

As part of working out the essential message that God wants to be communicated, seek to be led to a scripture passage.  This will form the basis of your preach. 

What did the author want to communicate?

Generally, the only legitimate way to present scripture is in a way that reflects the author’s original intention.  (When I say author in this case I mean both the human and the God who inspired him.)

To do this we have to have an understanding of the context that the writer lived and wrote in and the context that his readership received it in. 

This is an important integrity issue.  It is the way we can be sure that we do not force our own ideas on what the scripture is saying. 

For example, I once heard a sermon about the comparative qualities of various types of sheep farming methods based on the 23^rd Psalm.  I have no doubt that some farming methods are more sustainable, ethical and humane than others, but it is not the intention of the Psalmist to point that out.  He is celebrating the nurturing nature of God. 

It may sound like a difficult task to work out the context, but in fact there are resources at your disposal that will make it easy.  Here is my four-step suggestion for doing this phase of your preparation in about an hour. 

Step 1:           Check out general background (20 - 30 minutes)

Most Bibles have an introductory few pages at the beginning of each book explaining the background of the book; who wrote it, what was going on for him at the time, who the audience was, the kind of people they were, what was going on for them, the approximate dates.  Simply read this and absorb it. 

Step 2:           Identify what genre (style) of literature this book is (5 - 10 minutes)

A little time in thought should be able to give you the answer to this.  Is it a history book, a letter, a poetry book, an evangel (a biographical book edited in such a way as to persuade the reader – such as the four Gospels and Acts), a book of wisdom, a record of prophecy, etc.?  This is as important because of the assumptions we make about we read are based on our understanding of the genre.  (Would you read an advertisement with the same trust that you read a review of the product?  Would you read a newspaper with the same assumption as you read a novel?  Of course not; you are unconsciously influenced by what you know about the genre.)

Step 3:           Check out what is going on before and after your chosen passage (10- 15 minutes)

Often a quick read of what is before and after the passage will give some insight into the passage itself. About a chapter each way should do it.

Step 4:           Check through your passage looking for things that seem odd in today’s context   (15 - 20 minutes)

Find out why this is. Most likely it is something that was widely understood by the original readership, but does not make sense without explanation today.  For example, if I wrote in a letter to you “The first thing we did when we drove into town was stop to eat at the golden arches”, you would know that I was referring to McDonalds.  In two thousand years’ time, my readership will probably not make the same conclusion.  I have often heard some embarrassing made-up answers to the questions these that these passages though up.  You are better off not addressing the matter than making something up. 

If you carry out these four simple steps, you are more likely to be true to the real intention of God and the writer than if you don’t.  It might not be perfect, but it is a reasonable step in the right direction.  And if you follow this kind of approach by habit you will build up a broader and deeper knowledge of the Bible that will make each preach easier than the previous one, as well as being a blessing to you personally.

An effective preach has an effective “how to”

If we believe that an effective preach is “is one in which the preacher accurately portrays God’s message to God’s people in a way they understand, engage with, and which influences them for change”, then, almost by definition, it must have some explanation of how to make the change.   

Each address should have “how to” part to it, so that every listener is in no doubt about what she/he has to do to apply the principles he/she has just heard. 

The “how to” should be geared to the matter that has been preached, the congregation, and the circumstances of the presentation. 

To use an extreme example, I always preach salvation at a funeral (don’t invite me if you don’t want the gospel preached at your funeral), but it is clearly not appropriate to take over the service with a prolonged call to the mercy seat. Instead I invite attenders to seek out a Salvationist or other spiritual Christian whom they trust, for further discussion, emphasising that it really should be today lest the momentum and opportunity be lost. 

Having worked with addicts and alcoholics for about twenty years I have probably had a higher-than-average number of funerals to conduct, but I do not recall anyone being offended by a clear and definite, but sensitive, “how to”.

A trap to avoid

Before closing, it would be remiss of me not to mention one of the biggest traps that many preachers fall into.  That is treating the Old Testament as though it is a manual of ethics and morality for Christians.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Old Testament serves a number of important purposes.  

• It provides historical and cultural background that culminates in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and the establishment of the Church (the worldwide body of Christians, all spiritually interconnected),

•  
It contains a number of books that capture the mythology (truths told in story or history form) of the people (Israel) from whom Jesus came,

• It is a repository for poetry, wisdom literature and prophecy of the centuries leading to Jesus,

• It is the means by which God established that we cannot win a place in heaven by obeying rules or laws, only by the grace and forgiveness of God.
 

The Old Testament contains examples of God’s people behaving in very un-Christian ways on one hand, and it imposes rules that are irrelevant, unrealistic and impractical on the other.

So generally it cannot be used as a moral guidebook for the Christian.  It is inconsistent for this purpose.  (Otherwise, Christians would be required to abstain from Pork and get circumcised, and would be expected to kill foreigners to take over their land!)  Rather it is a means of providing background and input into the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament writers. 

(Almost all the moral and ethical teaching that a Christian will ever need is contained in Jesus’ mega-speech on how to live, recorded in Matthew 5, 6, and 7.)

Preaching is a huge subject, so this post is just a toe-in-the water exercise, but if you’re interested in know more feel free to contact me in English or Chinese at TAW_leadership@taw.salvationarmy.org.  Also you could follow me on Twitter as I will refer to preaching material from time to time.  

In my next post I will cover handling a Q&A session and share some ideas about coping with a hostile audience.