5 Preaching Tips from C.S. Lewis

By Jeff Dye 

C.S. Lewis was a prolific letter writer. It’s amazing how much wisdom and punch he included in the letters he wrote at the end of a day after all his main work was completed. 

In a letter from 1959, Lewis responded to Thomasine, a seventh-grade girl who had asked for advice on writing. Now, I’m not a seventh-grader, I’m not a girl, and I’m not really a writer, but I am a teacher and a preacher. And as I read Lewis’s tips to Thomasine, I was struck that his advice was not just helpful for writers, but also for people who preach or teach.  

In his letter to the young girl, Lewis offered eight pieces of advice, but I’m focusing only on the first five, which I believe to be the most relevant for ministers. 

1. “Turn off the radio.” 

These days, we would say, “Get away from your phone, close your email, and turn off Twitter.” We have many more distractions than Lewis did 60-plus years ago. Preachers and teachers require time to think, pray, and write . . . and additional writing time might be needed when the words don’t seem to come. A message worth hearing is delivered by a messenger who has learned the discipline of focused attention. 

2. “Read all the good books you can.” 

I have found that reading good theology and history, not directly tied to any message prep, gives me fuel for future messages. Always having a good book available is one of the best ways to have something vital to say when the time comes. And I think Lewis’s advice is even more sound in our internet age. We have a virtually limitless amount of reading material available to us . . . but how much of it is worth reading, let alone remembering, even one week later? A person with something worth saying will prepare by reading worthwhile things long before they stand up and say one word. 

3. “Always write (and read) with the ear, not the eye. You should hear every sentence you write as if it was being read aloud or spoken. If it does not sound nice, try again.” 

This is why the preacher must practice what they plan to say. What looks good on paper may not sound good when spoken. When we speak, we engage, invite, encourage, cajole, challenge, comfort, and move. We convey much of that by what we say, but also by how we say it.  

Because we live in a distracted age, we as teachers and preachers must recognize that it takes a well-spoken word to grab the attention of our listeners.  

I believe that a well-spoken word still has the power to grip the listener who is “drunk on distraction” but desperate for meaning, and have them seriously consider God’s truth.  

Our churches are looking for ministers who are able to thoughtfully engage with our world while also helping them see how to live out the gospel in this moment. The message of Jesus and the ability to share it powerfully are as vital as ever. 

4. “Write about what really interests you, whether it is real things, or imaginary things, and nothing else.” 

A teacher, of course, can’t just cover the parts of the Bible they enjoy, but Lewis’s admonition is a reminder that what grabs us and what grounds us will come out in the messages we share.  

Someone has noted that every preacher really has just one sermon. I have found that to be true, though it surely comes out in multiple ways and through numerous texts of Scripture. My messages seem to always come back to the same foundational theme: God’s faithfulness through life’s challenges. That is at the bedrock of what I believe, so that is what finds its way through my heart, onto the page, and then out of my mouth most every time I speak.  

So, as a teacher, make sure to include Old Testament and New Testament, Israel and church, prophecy and parable, cross and empty tomb—but do so knowing the absolute core message you want to pass along to your listener every time they hear you. 

5. “Take great pains to be clear. Remember that though you start by knowing what you mean, the reader doesn’t, and a single ill-chosen word may lead him to a total misunderstanding. In a story it is terribly easy just to forget that you have not told the reader something that he needs to know—the whole picture is so clear in your own mind that you forget that it isn’t the same in his.” 

In an age of biblical illiteracy, it is important we don’t assume our listeners know the difference between Jonah and Jeremiah, or can recite half the Ten Commandments, or have even heard of the Beatitudes. We’ve got to be clear what we’re talking about while not belaboring the point or losing our more Bible-savvy listeners. It’s truly a tall task.  

But in referencing, say, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, a speaker can say something like: “In the Beatitudes, Jesus calls us to a new way of thinking and living—where the poor in spirit are blessed; where the meek aren’t discarded, but inherit the earth; where those closest to God are the ones who do the hard work of making peace.” In just a sentence or two, you have mentioned the Beatitudes (without assuming people have some background knowledge), plus you’ve invited people to catch a glimpse of what Jesus said.  

There’s not much we can assume anymore when we stand before a group even in a church setting, so let’s make sure we are clearly preaching and teaching Scripture (and Jesus) every time they hear us share. 

Jeff Dye serves as engagement minister at Westport Road Church of Christ in Louisville, Kentucky. 

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Source material for this article is from a 2016 blog post by Justin Taylor at The Gospel Coalition website.