What”s Happening with Contemporary Preaching?

By Chuck Sackett

Finding Waldo in a peppermint candy factory may be easier than finding a simple description of contemporary preaching. Preaching today ranges from Rob Bell”s¹ “The Goat Has Left the Building” to Erwin McManus”s² “The Barbarian Way.” Approaches are as divergent as Doug Pagitt”s³ “Progressional Implicatory Preaching,” Dan Kimball”s⁴ “haircut homiletics,” and John MacArthur”s⁵ “Expository Preaching.” Explanations move from Chris Altrock”s⁶ “[in]adequate understanding of the non-Christian” to Andy Stanley”s⁷ “preaching for life-change” to Dave Ferguson”s⁸ “common mistake of bombarding people with so many “˜little ideas” that they suffer overload.”

A simple snapshot will never capture the richness of the tapestry of contemporary preaching. However, there are some common threads that appear to run through all emerging approaches to the sermon. These four threads may help us understand the current situation.

Investment

A variety of concerns appear to motivate this new generation of preachers. Some were reared in the church and have seen the effects of boring, disengaging preaching⁹. Others are driven by a newfound passion to connect with the biblically uninformed, currently unchurched of our burgeoning new mission field (the United States)¹⁰. Even veteran preachers are wrestling with listeners who are not only younger but who think differently (postmodernists).

Andy Stanley captures this concern as well as any when he says, “Your preparation is not complete until you have answered two very important questions: So what? and Now what?”¹¹ A movement is abreast to assure listeners sermons will contain material that matters, and it will appear before the conclusion.

Involvement

But for some, being invested in the sermon””engaged by the obviously applicable “so what” of the message””is inadequate. Having endured too many monologues that seemed totally irrelevant, bereft of any engagement with the audience, Doug Pagitt has proposed a return to dialogue. However, he”s not advocating two people sharing the pulpit, but rather, preaching that involves the audience directly in the sermon.

Pagitt proposes and practices leading a group discussion over the text of Scripture selected for the day. As the dialogue progresses, the truth becomes clearer and the audience moves toward an increasing level of understanding and commitment to action based upon the conversation. In this way, listeners are totally engaged in the sermon.

Other preachers have used the “sermon group” as a means of involvement. Several people meet regularly to discuss the sermon text and idea. The group provides insight as well as resources from their daily experiences and reading. Still other preachers use a follow-up discussion time, or use the sermon as the primary curriculum throughout their entire adult discipleship program (whether classes or groups or e-groups).

In at least a few situations, everything from sermon to bulletin covers to posters to announcements to prayers focuses on only one theme. Such a narrow focal point allows the listener to know exactly what level of involvement (and response) is expected.

Invention

Times have changed. Most listeners over 40 are OK with sermons that are similar from week to week and sound like those they heard 20 years ago. But this is a visually stimulated, rapidly moving, constantly changing, technologically driven world. Many preachers are inventing new means of communicating the old, old story.

Preachers are using video, PowerPoint, computer images, drama, secular music, and movies””anything to get and hold the attention of those influenced by our high-tech age. Invention not only includes these aids, but different approaches as well. Indirect preaching (narratives, inductive sermons, first-person dramas, etc.) are more popular than at any time in recent history. Multimedia have become a common staple in many situations. For some congregations this means an appeal to all the senses. They provide something to taste, touch, smell, see, and hear in every message (or worship experience).

Response

While not new, the emphasis upon response is being renewed. Many contemporary preachers are unwilling to send listeners home with “merely information.” Preaching aims for transformation””lives that are changed, changing, and influential.

Whether it”s the result of the dialogue, direct forms of application within the message, visual cues, handouts, or service-learning experiences, listeners are expected to do more than listen. While unwilling to be “told what to do,” contemporary listeners expect contemporary preachers to give options that are specific, plausible, and within reach.

Four threads””investment, involvement, invention, and response””are woven throughout the fabric of contemporary preaching. While they don”t reveal the entire tapestry, they give a clear indication of what”s taking place. And what”s taking place is needed.

A Needed Corrective

No new mother wants to hear that her newborn is ugly. And since sermons are conceived and delivered, preachers can be equally defensive about criticism. But a lack of objective feedback can lead to a false sense of contentment. Every sermon is a candidate for critique; every preacher is in need of regular evaluation.

What contemporary preachers are telling us about some current preaching is regrettably true. Some preaching is a dry-as-dust recounting of historical trivia. Some is running commentary with little-to-no awareness of contemporary concerns. Some is monologue from those who like to hear themselves talk.

Criticism should occur. Many preachers have fallen into the habit of jumping out from behind the same tree every Sunday morning. Sermons demonstrate the same approach, maintain the same flavor, are served at the same temperature, in the same wrapper, with the same ending, every week. It is little wonder listeners clamor for change.

Two biblical sermons provide adequate evidence that variety is not merely acceptable; it”s mandatory. In Acts 13:13ff., Paul preaches to a Jewish synagogue. He appeals to their theocentric worldview and shared heritage through references to Jewish history, Old Testament stories, and Old Testament quotations. Paul takes them from Egypt to the Jordan to the cross. And they understand.

But a mere four chapters later it”s as if the universe has shifted. In Acts 17:22ff., Paul makes no reference to Old Testament Scriptures, he makes no appeal to a shared theocentrism, and he ignores Egypt and Moses and Abraham. Instead, he appeals to their shared religio-centrism, he quotes their poets, and he appeals to their pagan worldview. What happened? He changed locations. Athens represents more than geographical change; it symbolizes the change in people”s thinking.

In these two sermons we see a variety of appeals. We see direct and indirect approaches. We see hints of narrative and indications of illustrations. We see awareness of Scripture (its story) and awareness of the world (its culture and its media). By knowing where he was and to whom he was speaking, Paul was able to adapt the approach without damaging the message.

If we learn only one thing from the contemporary upheaval in preaching, we must learn this: correction is needed, always, in every generation. We must learn that the approach to preaching must always be subject to change while the message must constantly remain the same.

A Corrective Needed

Good preaching succeeds in any setting. Therefore, it is unfair to paint all preaching with the same broad brushstroke. It is unwarranted to categorize all monological preaching as “speaching.”¹² It is unreasonable to label all expository preaching “three points and a poem.”¹³

While recognizing that caricatures are based in reality, it is still true that their primary appeal is found in their distortion. So, rather than cast out baby and bathwater together, could preachers learn from the mistakes of the past without going to the opposite extremes?

Video and other media may appear to rescue listeners from boredom, but do they do so at no cost? Have those who intersperse their messages with video clips researched the effects of watching media? Might it be possible that too much video puts the mind to sleep and then the challenge arises to “wake it up again” with “mere” words?¹⁴ A great deal more research and thought need to be given to the effects of media on all communication in the church.

Have preachers given up on words? Or have they merely lost the ability to use the right ones? As wonderful as the movie The Chronicles of Narnia was, it totally failed to match the wonder of the Narnia C.S. Lewis created in the minds of millions of readers. Aslan will never be adequately captured on film or in animation or computer enhancement. Discreetly selected, artfully prepared words will never be supplanted. Preachers must learn (relearn) to read and to practice writing for the ear and imagination.

Dialogue wonderfully characterizes life. Therefore, every sermon should be far more dialogical than monological. All preachers can (must) learn to anticipate and/or stimulate questions to draw listeners into conversation. But the dialogue doesn”t have to happen out loud. It can, and on occasion, should. But few preachers are capable of leading a progressive dialogue with even a handful of people. Those who can may; those who can”t might learn. But even then the grave danger exists that the authoritative voice of the text will be lost in the commotion. God becomes just one more opinion in the sea of discussion.

Sensory aids also have their place. Used tactfully they can engage the listeners and enhance their ability to hear and understand. But without care they can also distract or cause confusion. Not every audience is ready for a goat or tank. They may be ready for some honey or a small stone. They are surely prepared for a vivid description.

Contemporary preaching has moved us in positive directions. It has forced us to take seriously the changing interests and worldviews of our listeners. It has reminded us that the message is critical, but so is the method. Contemporary preaching has caused all thoughtful preachers to ask if they are connecting with a changing world.

But we must also be careful. Careful not to let go of content. Careful not to fall prey to fads. Careful to faithfully point to the Scriptures and the triune God of the Scriptures. Careful to be intentional about all we do in our sermons.

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¹Rob Bell tends to use visual aids (a live goat; a high priest; honey) and generous doses of Jewish backgrounds.

²Erwin McManus is known for preaching extemporaneously in a context of high artistic engagement.

³Doug Pagitt advocates dialogue that advances the listeners” understanding of the text and its implications.

⁴Dan Kimball listens to stories at the barbershop to become a better storyteller in the pulpit.

⁵John MacArthur still preaches/teaches for nearly an hour while people take copious notes.

⁶Chris Altrock advocates preaching evangelistically to the postmodern in ways that address their “experiential bias.”

⁷Andy Stanley seeks to communicate only one main point in his sermon.

⁸Dave Ferguson seeks to direct the entire communication process (music, bulletins, sermon, posters, et al.) toward one (and only one) point per Sunday.

⁹See D.A. Carson, Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005).

¹⁰Mark Driscoll is a fine example; he wrote The Radical Reformission (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004).

¹¹Andy Stanley and Lane Jones, Communicating for a Change (Sisters: Multnomah, 2006), 97.

¹²Doug Pagitt, Preaching Re-Imagined (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005).

¹³David Enyart, Creative Anticipation (privately published, 2002), 32.

¹⁴See Quentin J. Schultze, High-Tech Worship? Using Presentational Technologies Wisely (North Dartmouth: Baker Books, 2004).

 

 

Chuck Sackett is preaching minister with Madison Park Christian Church in Quincy, Illinois, and professor at large in preaching at Lincoln (Illinois) Christian College and Seminary. He is a CHRISTIAN STANDARD contributing editor.