Preaching with Clarity
It’s the worst thing that could ever happen to a preacher. Here you’ve spent all week in preparation. You’ve consulted dozens of resources, done your exegetical homework, crafted an outline, prayed and then labored for a half hour or so on Sunday morning, only to have one of your listeners say in their own polite, tactful way,
“What was your second point again?”
“You talk really fast.”
“What did you say that word meant?”
All of this and more is code for, “You just weren’t clear”. And let me repeat for clarity sake: This is the one of the worst things that could ever be said about the preacher. Truth that is not clear, is like clothes that don’t fit- you can’t do anything with it.
Over the last several decades of preaching I’ve found the following checklist to serve me well in helping me to be clear in the preaching moment:
- Spend just as much time with the how as you do the what. Many preachers spend so much on the what- exegesis, hermeneutics, reading commentaries- that they forget the how, that is giving careful thought to the way in which things need to be communicated. Jesus gave careful thought to how he wanted to communicate truth. Just look at the careful attention he gave to illustrations and visual aids.
- Table of Contents. Remember the people you are talking to are not reading what you’re saying, they’re listening to you. When someone reads and they feel as if they missed something they have the luxury of turning back the pages and catching it. Not so with listeners. Once it’s missed, it’s missed. To help us with this we preachers should give a table of contents at the start of our message. “This morning we’re going to learn these three things,” and state them. I have found this simple exercise to not only help with clarity, but it gives people a road map for our time together, letting them know in advance when we’re close to landing the plane.
- Edit. Whenever a movie is made there is always several scenes that didn’t make it to the final product. Filmmakers know that everything that is shot cannot be shown. Preacher you should not bring all of your study to the preaching moment. There’s some “scenes” that need to be left on the editing room floor.
- Manuscript. My colleague, H.B. Charles has been known to advise young preachers to “Write yourself clear”. I have used this discipline for the last fifteen years or so. I don’t take the manuscript with me, but I have found the discipline of writing down my thoughts helps me to clarify what I want to say in the preaching moment.
- Big Idea. I resisted this for years, but in the past months I’ve returned to what Haddon Robinson and others have called the big or central idea of a text. It has been a rich tool in helping me to preach with clarity. Books like, Biblical Preaching, and Christ Centered Preaching will shed further light on this concept. I highly recommend them.
- Clarity begins with you. The message must be clear to the preacher before it’s clear to the people. I had a preaching professor who once said that a mist in the pulpit is a fog in the pew. Preacher are you clear with where you are going? The slightest hesitation to this question will be magnified by a thousand with your people.
- Structure. Here we have in mind things like outlines. It’s up to you how detailed you want to be, or if you want to use alliteration. As a model of structure I have used the explanation, illustration, application format. Make the point. Show the point. Show the person in the point.
- Repetition. Repetition. Repetition.
- Simplicity. The mark of brilliance is the ability to make the complex simple. It has been my experience that recent seminary grads specifically struggle with this. In their quest to make their mark and validate their calling they want everyone to know how smart they were. My best compliments on preaching always come from children who say to me in their own way that they got what I was saying.
Remember, you can never argue with a person who says to you they didn’t understand you. We as preachers have to own that.
A Glass of Merlot
I enjoy a very occasional glass of wine, and this has become a bit of a problem between Korie and I. Okay, A LOT of a problem. In the early days of marriage we would be out at some restaurant enjoying a wonderful evening together until I would indicate my beverage of choice. Immediately Korie would shut down emotionally and look at me as if I was some detestable insect. Not one to be outdone, I would hit her with all of the passages in the Bible that validated my decision to imbibe. Jesus’ first miracle. Paul’s prescription to Timothy for what ailed his stomach. I’d even go Acts 10, Romans 14 and I Corinthians 8 on her. Right there in the middle of the Cheesecake Factory I would conclude my defense by saying, “You do know I’m twenty-six, YEARS BEYOND the legal age for drinking. So if Jesus and Capitol Hill are okay with it, then I guess I’m good." I’d then take a few swigs of my Merlot and grin like a Cheshire cat.
It didn’t get better, only worse.
I remember getting so…so hacked off at the "Pharisee” for a wife God had given me, that I asked in the middle of like round forty over this drinking argument, “What’s your deal?”. What followed changed my life and settled the matter. In the middle of some restaurant Korie broke down and shared with me how everyone she had ever loved had abused alcohol. The near death experiences. Unpredictable home life. Seeing me with a wine glass in my hand lead her to conclude that I would be another certain victim. I think I ordered an Arnold Palmer that night.
Communication theorists tell us there’s five levels of communication. Ranking them in order from most superficial, to the most intimate:
1. Cliche/Non-sharing (Good morning! How are you? Fine. Nothing’s been said).
2. Facts/Sharing what you know (Who won the game?)
3. Opinion/Sharing what you think (Who will win the Superbowl? Falcons of course)
4. Emotive/Sharing how you feel (I’m angry, sad, fearful, hurt).
5. Transparency/Sharing who you are (I have a really hard time with self control.)
Maybe you’ve put it together by now, but the issue for Korie and I was not alcohol, it was that we were communicating on two different levels. I went facts (no offense to those out there who think drinking is wrong). The Bible says it. The government okays it. So let’s do it. Korie was at level four. She went feelings. When she saw me drink it brought up a history of bad experiences. It was only when I met her on her level of communication that we were able to get to understanding and journey deeper into oneness with each other.
This is the problem with discussions on race by the way. Pick a controversial topic, anyone. Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman. Jenna Six. Rodney King. My white brothers typically go level two in their communication. You know all facts. Well Zimmerman was within his rights. Trayvon didn’t have a clean record, he was a known drug user. Some funky stuff was happening in that neighborhood anyways. And according to the law Zimmerman was within his rights, or so the level two communication goes.
But what I want my white brothers and sisters to see is that when this happens we minorities aren’t communicating from level two, we’re level four. We FEEL violated. We FEEL like once again black life was devalued. We FEEL as if justice was aborted. And what we need at this moment is for you to set down your “wine glass,” come to our side of the table and try to FEEL what we FEEL. We can dispute facts all day long, but one can never argue feelings.
The only thing that’s going to get us to the other side of the table and do the work to get at a sense of understanding is love. The same love that compelled me to hear my wife’s heart, must the kind of love that allows us to enter into dialog with one another exploring more than facts, but feelings as well.
If Only
What if Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman went to the same church? What if the two of them were placed in a small group together, where they shared countless meals and engaged one another in meaningful dialog? Do you think the outcome would have been different? I do. Okay, take Trayvon out of the small group. Instead, let’s say Zimmerman went to a church where he was in constant contact with young black teenage men who wore hoodies from the other side of the tracks. What if they trusted each other enough to share their different sociological worldviews, while at the same time reveling in the common ground that they hold in Christ? Do you think Zimmerman would’ve pulled out his gun and shot a young man because of fear fed by stereotypes? I don’t think he would have. Trayvon would’ve kept on eating his skittles that evening, all because of the power of the multi-ethnic church to dismantle fear and prejudice.
The danger of homogeneity is that it isolates us from the other and serves as a silent accomplice to perpetuate our generalizations and suspicions of the other. When we don’t know one another we become susceptible to saying things like:
“Yeh, but black preachers are just emotional, they don’t really deal with the text.”
“They don’t work hard enough.”
“White people are racist’s.”
“But if they (interracial couple) get married, what about the kids?”
“When will they just get over it?”
Like any other black man I know what it’s like to have white people walk faster when I happen to walk behind them. Sometimes I get frustrated by this, but I also laugh. If they only knew me. Outside of the pack of Kool Aid I stole when I was like eight, I’ve never stolen anything in my life. I live in the suburbs, am married to a girl from Scottsdale, Arizona, pastor a church that’s 65% white and haven’t been in a fight since I was like nineteen. And…can I be real? I am often times just as afraid of certain black people as the white person I’m walking behind is afraid of me! If they only knew me. If I only knew them.
Just the other day I walked into a store at night. And as you can imagine, as it just so happened I scared the white woman in front of me so that she clenched her purse and doubled her gait. As I was about to shake my head in frustration, one of my members called out loudly from like fifty feet away, “Pastor Bryan!" Her greeting was so loud it left me a little embarrassed. She ran over and we had a great conversation, a black man and a white woman in the middle of Target. No fear. We knew each other.
If the social structures of our lives- church, neighborhoods, schools, etc- are homogenous, and we have no meaningful exchanges with the other around dinner tables and outings, then we are bound to perpetuate stereotypes and live in fear and suspicion of the other. One of the glorious residual benefits of the multi-ethnic church is that it forces you to deconstruct your perception of the other, and come out of your fear. If only we had more multi-ethnic churches, Trayvon Martin might still be alive today.
Saturday 10
Each Saturday I take some time to reflect on the ten things that happened this past week that have brought me life. Things that I’m excited about.
- Our first national conference on multi-ethnic ministry called, The Kainos Movement (April 16-17, 2014), continued to make progress this week. We met with our website design firm, and they showed us some branding options. We expect the website to be up and running by mid October. Once that happens you’ll be able to register for the conference. You won’t want to miss this as John Piper, Tony Evans, Soong Chan Rah, John Perkins and a host of others are going to be sharing on how to do multi-ethnic ministry.
- This past Sunday I had the honor of preaching at North Dallas Community Bible Fellowship. God was gracious, and his people were blessed. Thanks to Dr. Terren Dames for hosting me.
- At the same time I preached across all three campuses at Fellowship Memphis as we started our series on the book of James (thanks to some wonderful technology I was actually able to preach in two states, at four locations on the same day). You can go here to listen, and subscribe to the podcast or download the app: http://www.fellowshipmemphis.org/media/
- Since my father was also preaching in Dallas this past Sunday we decided to connect for lunch. I so love my dad, and am grateful for his godly example. Follow him on Twitter @crawfordloritts
- I met with another pastor this week to discuss plans of a partnership where we dream of planting gospel centered, disciple making, multi-ethnic churches in the city of Memphis. I left the breakfast table excited for the future of our city.
- I’m honored to serve as the General Editor for an upcoming book called, Letters to a Birmingham Jail. Some of the authors on this project are Matt Chandler, Crawford Loritts, John Piper, John Perkins, John Bryson, Charlie Dates and Albert Tate. Subscribe to my blog to be regularly updated on this project as it will be coming out sometime next spring.
- On Monday our staff discussed Dr. Korie Edwards book, The Elusive Dream. It’s one of the most thought provoking books I’ve read on the multi-ethnic church.
- Monday afternoon’s are the highlight of my week as I lead a preaching cohort that trains our residents on preaching. This past Monday we talked about the personal life of the preacher.
- Thursday I connected with my prayer group, made up of pastors around the city of Memphis. It was a great time of sharing and prayer- a real and rare safe place for we pastors.
- Yesterday Korie and I saw The Butler. It exceeded the hype. Go see it.
On Using Illustrations
It was Dr. Tony Evans who taught me to, “think illustratively”. He believed that everything was an illustration, and that we as preachers needed to turn the switch of our imagination on, opening our eyes to the stories and analogies around us. He believed so strongly in developing our imaginations that he required we interns to give him twenty-five illustrations a week. It was hard, tedious work, but now some twenty years later I remain indebted to Dr. Evans, for illustrations have become a mainstay in my preaching ministry.
Over the past twenty-three years of preaching I’ve learned many things, specifically about using illustrations:
1. Jesus used illustrations, and so should we. Life is a story, or what I may call a “meta-illustration,” thus people are naturally drawn to story, because they find themselves a part of one. Jesus understood this, that is why his teachings are filled with illustrations (mustard seeds, fig trees, stories of a lost coin, lost sheep, lost sons, etc.).
2. Illustrations are windows to the point, they are never to be the point. Where I have blown it with illustrations, and have seen other preachers blow it, is preaching illustrations instead of the text. We should view illustrations as a window to show the point “out there”, they’re never to be the point.
3. People should get the point of the illustration before you make the point. In other words, the people you are preaching to should get to the punch line before you give the punch line. If the people are still wondering what the point is after you have given the point then they are missing what you are currently saying, and the illustration was not effective, actually it was detrimental to the message.
4. Variety. In a given sermon there should be variety of illustrations- biblical illustrations, historical illustrations, personal stories, current events, etc. I know many preachers who use mainly personal stories. We have to especially be careful with this because we can inadvertently make ourselves the hero and not God. On the other hand, too many sports stories, for example, will not connect with those who are not into sports in your church. As a rule of thumb, variety is always good.
5. Don’t overdo it. I so love illustrations that I can use too many and this is a problem. Think of illustrations as Lawry’s Seasoning Salt, and the text as the meat. No seasoning is not good, but too much will spoil the meat and the message. The right amount of illustrations will help to clarify and serve a wonderful meal, too much and it’s spoiled.
6. Transition well. In giving illustrations one should always make the point very clearly, transition to the illustration that shows the point, and then at the end of the illustration make the point again. Finally, you want to apply the point you have just shown through the illustration. Perhaps this example will help:
I was preaching Philippians 2 recently, the great kenosis passage talking about Christ emptying himself. What a theological challenge! The point Paul was making was that Christ didn’t lose his status as God, instead he simply used his status not for his own purposes, but to benefit and bless others. Therefore, we should follow Christ’s humble example by refusing to use whatever status we have for ourselves, but for the benefit of others.
I’m ashamed to say it, but I have diamond status with delta, which means that if there’s an empty seat in first class I get the upgrade. My status affords me some wonderful perks that I enjoy taking advantage of. However, this becomes a problem when my wife and I fly together, because while I have the highest status, she has no status, and me getting the upgrade while Korie sits in coach doesn’t work too well for marriage. So what I do is that I will take my first class ticket and sit next to my wife in coach, which means I am sitting in someone else’s seat. When that person comes I will give them my first class seat so that I can remain with my wife in coach. Because of my refusal to benefit from my status personally, but stewarding it for the benefit of others, someone with no status is now experiencing the comforts of first class, while my wife and I can be together. Now I haven’t lost my status- I’m still diamond- I just refuse to use my status at that time to benefit myself, instead I use my status to bless others.
This is what Christ has done for us. He had the highest status- He is God. But he didn’t simply remain in the first class section of the world called heaven, but he came down to earth- coach- to walk with us and die for us that we might get the upgrade back to heaven. Can I ask you a question- when was the last time you used the blessings of God, the status that God has given you to bless others?