Cyber-Chapel Blog

Traditionally, the sermon has been an important feature of the assemblies of God’s people. The sermon is so central to many groups that its delivery is one of the main duties of a professionally trained and salaried individual, the pastor.

The sermon is coming under attack in many quarters as ineffective and out of date. Yet the practice of delivering material through an extended, carefully prepared verbal presentation has strong biblical precedent. Before abandoning serious expository preaching, let’s think more carefully.

To be clear: what I mean by “sermon” is an extended lecture on a biblical text or theme, prepared in advance by one individual who delivers it orally to a group of people. Unlike a discussion, the presentation is asymmetric (primarily from the teacher to the congregation, though it may be interrupted by questions). Unlike a meditation, it develops its content with an argument that usually takes some time to present. Unlike an extemporaneous address, the teacher devotes effort to preparing it in advance.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TO THE SERMON?

In the days of the Puritans, sermons lasted between one and two hours each [1], and were the central feature of church meetings. Transcripts of these sermons indicate that they were carefully structured, with detailed argumentation. Today, in many churches, the sermon has largely transformed into an inspirational monolog, highly informal, that lasts at most fifteen minutes, and the church meeting is dominated by other activities (sharing, music, and media). Now, I have nothing against sharing, music, or even media in the meetings of God’s people. My concern is simply that they often displace extended prepared teaching. This shift is sometimes justified by an appeal to the notion that “lecture is the most inefficient way to communicate truth: you only remember 30% of what you hear, but 80% of what you do.”

CAUSE FOR PAUSE

At the outset, let’s be careful about those numbers. We’ve all heard them used to justify more innovative communication methods, but they’re an urban legend [2], without any basis of research. No doubt different methods of presenting material do have different levels of effectiveness, and there is a body of research in this area, but the results are complex, depending on many factors besides presentation method. One study even finds no difference between lecture and experiential teaching [3]! In a few moments, I’ll consider some other factors that come into play.

More important for the Christian is the evidence of Scripture. Teachers in the Bible use many different instructional methods. These include (among many others)

• personal discipleship (our Lord’s calling of the Twelve in Mark 3:14-15; Paul’s enlisting Timothy in Acts 16:3)
• visual aids (the little child in Matt 18:2-3; the tribute coin in Matt 22:17)
• demonstrations (Elijah on Mt Carmel in 1 Kings 18:36-38; our Lord’s healings)
• Socratic questions (our Lord to Peter in Matt 17:25-26)

Certainly, we should take advantage of a wide array of methods to communicate spiritual truth. But let’s not forget the ubiquitous role of the extended, formal verbal presentation. Here are only a few examples.

• The entire book of Deuteronomy is presented as a series of sermons (1:5; 5:1; 27:1) that Moses delivered to the nation in the Plains of Moab, before they entered the Promised Land.
• Neh 8 reports how Ezra read the Scriptures to the people “from the morning until midday.”
• Our Lord often gave extended, highly-structured oral presentations. Five of these form the backbone of Matthew’s gospel: the sermon on the mount (ch. 5-7), the missionary discourse (ch. 10), the parables of the kingdom (ch. 13), the discourse on Christian community (ch. 18), and the Olivet discourse (ch. 24-25).
• John devotes four chapters (ch. 13-16) to the Upper Room Discourse.
• Peter’s sermon on Pentecost (Acts 2) shows careful planning and preparation.
• Paul is known for his extended sermons. One is preserved for us in Acts 13. In Acts 20, he preached so long at Troas that a member of the congregation fell asleep.

Paul’s exhortations to Timothy show the importance of careful preparation for such a ministry. He exhorts his young friend,

• 1Ti 4:13 Give attendance [attention, heed] to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
• 1Ti 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine;
• 1Ti 5:17 Let the elders … be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Where the text of these presentations is preserved, we find that they are not rambling ad-lib thoughts, but are carefully organized to develop their message with a clear rhetoric. They reflect extensive forethought by the teacher, and hearers must invest some effort in understanding them. With these clear biblical examples of formal Bible teaching, we should be very cautious about suggestions that the sermon is no longer appropriate for God’s people.

WHAT MAKES SERMONS EFFECTIVE?

In spite of the biblical precedent for preaching and the fallacious nature of the so-called “research” that is cited against “the lecture method,” many people still find sermons unsatisfying. I’m convinced that the problem is not so much the format as how it is used. Just because sermons are biblical doesn’t mean we are justified in doing them poorly. Let’s consider several different factors that can impact their effectiveness. The first two factors tell us when we should use sermons rather than other teaching methods. The last two tell us how we can use them more effectively.

When: The Environment

A sermon is the ultimate low-tech teaching method. It doesn’t need computers, video projectors or screens, or audio systems. It just requires a prepared teacher and a willing audience. This feature certainly was attractive in the pre-digital era, but it is just as valuable today. A sermon can be delivered in a home living-room, in a park, on a street corner, or in the middle of the Appalachian trail. A good sermon requires diligent preparation, but that preparation focuses on the content itself, not on manipulating technologies. The sermon delivers more content bang for the delivery buck than any other approach, and it can be used in a far wider array of environments than any other method.

Of course, other biblical teaching methods, such as personal discipleship, also are low-tech. The sermon is particularly appropriate when one teacher needs to reach a larger group. Perhaps this is why it is so attractive for use by elders as they exercise oversight over an assembly of God’s people. It is useful for the assembly to consider some issues together, and systematic presentation by those in responsibility is an excellent way to deliver the message to everybody at once.

When: The Message

Some messages lend themselves to short object lessons or the hands-on side-by-side demonstration of discipleship. But much of what the Bible teaches us consists of ideas whose relation to one another is crucial to understanding the mind of God. Such information is most naturally presented as an exposition.

For example, the first half of Isaiah is set against the backdrop of complex international relations involving Judah, Israel, Egypt, and Assyria. Isaiah’s message is that Judah must trust in the Lord rather than in geopolitical alliances. Understanding that message in its context requires us to fit it into this historical framework. We don’t need to go outside of the Bible to do this. The Scriptures contain enough background to enable us to reconstruct the context. But it’s difficult to see how one could communicate this web of thought with a short object lesson or a demonstration. Human language is the best tool we have for explaining how ideas relate to one another.

Here’s another example. The first chapter of Ephesians contains (in Greek) the longest sentence in the Bible, 231 words in a complex structure of subordinate and coordinate clauses. God clearly thought that sentence was important, for he included it in the Bible. Understanding it is not a matter of a ten minute inspirational thought. It requires that the teacher first carefully analyze the grammar of the verses, and then explain to his hearers how the thought develops. Anything less is not being faithful to the information that God has revealed.

How: The Preacher

When people express frustration with “the lecture method,” I wonder how many of them are really commenting on the lecturer. Many of us have suffered through lectures in which the professor reads the same dog-eared notes he has used for years in a bored, monotone voice. The problem here isn’t the format of an extended presentation, but the manner in which it is delivered. This kind of delivery is responsible for the reputation of a lecture as a method in which “the notes of the teacher are transferred to the notes of the student without passing through the mind of either one.” Like any other teaching method, the lecture can be done well or poorly. The difference depends on the teacher.

Here are some characteristics of a sermon that can make a  big difference in its effectiveness.

Preparation.–Paul exhorts Timothy to treat teaching as a serious responsibility that requires diligent preparation. The careful organization of sermons that are recorded in the Bible shows that they are not extemporaneous, but carefully planned. It is true that our Lord encouraged his followers not to worry what to say when their enemies deliver them up to persecution (Matt 10:17-19), but that promise does not excuse careless preparation when the teacher is serving his brothers and sisters in the Lord. Careful preparation begins with diligent analysis of the Scriptures that will be expounded, but goes on to think through how those ideas can be developed in a way that will be accessible to the hearers, taking into account their knowledge and interests. It includes thinking of appropriate illustrations, and spelling out the practical application of the truth that is being presented.

Structure.–A classic principle of verbal presentation is that the teacher must “tell them what you’re going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them.” Appropriate use of repetition cements ideas in the mind of the hearer. It’s a prominent element of biblical style, and in fact of all biblical literature, which was written to be read aloud, not silently [4].

Speaking Style.–The oral style of the teacher can make a big difference in the effectiveness of a sermon. The voice should be loud enough to hear, but not shouted (unless one is preaching on a street corner in a busy city). Words should be clearly pronounced. The tone of voice should be pleasant to the ear, a quality that can be greatly enhanced by smiling while speaking. Sentences should be well-formed and concise. If they are too long, people may not remember the beginning of a sentence when the speaker finally arrives at the end. If the speaker pauses to collect his thoughts, he should not be afraid of a moment of silence, nor try to fill it with “uh, hmm, ahh.” Modern recording technology allows the teacher to listen to himself and ask, “How well would I understand myself? What mannerisms do I have that annoy me? Perhaps they distract others as well.”

Openness–If the setting allows, teachers should encourage the hearers to ask questions during a presentation if they don’t understand something. The Lord demonstrated this approach in the Upper Room Discourse. If answering a question would divert the message from the point the teacher has been led to deliver, it’s certainly appropriate to defer it until later, but it’s better to clarify a point of confusion early than to lose people for the rest of the presentation.

How: The Hearers

Every instance of communication involves two parties: the one delivering the message, and the one receiving it. We have just considered some of the responsibilities of the teacher if we are to follow the scriptural example of extended teaching successfully. The hearer also has responsibilities.

Most people are no longer trained in understanding linear media, such as extended exposition, whether verbal or written, perhaps because so many richer forms of media are available. The sentences we use now are much shorter than those used by speakers of English years ago [5, which shows that the effect antedates modern media]. Most modern readers have difficulty following the argumentation in classics such as Milton’s Areopagitica or the Federalist Papers, works that were well enough understood in their day to have widespread public impact. This lack of skill not only makes long sermons challenging, it also keeps people from understanding the Bible, and when I teach people the Bible, much of my work is simply teaching them to read.

God has chosen to reveal himself to us in an extensive text written in human language. He didn’t give us an MTV video or a movie trailer. He wrote us a book. Whatever our attitude may be toward sermons, it’s our responsibililty to learn to understand extended verbal communication. As we build this skill in order to understand the Bible, we’ll find that we can process sermons better, too.

A classic help in this area is Mortimer Adler’s book, How to Read a Book [6]. His big idea is that understanding an extended argument requires the reader to engage actively in a silent conversation with the presenter. Some useful techniques in this direction are available in a short paper available on the web [7]. These techniques include preparing to engage the book by reviewing the sources on which the author draws, taking written notes while reading, and formulating questions as the argument develops to prepare the mind for possible answers that the author may give. These same techniques are helpful in understanding sermons. Read over the text in advance. Take notes. If you don’t understand something, ask the teacher–during the presentation if the setting allows, and afterward if it does not.

THE END OF THE MATTER

The sermon is not the only way to communicate spiritual truth. But it is a biblical way. Down through the centuries, God has been pleased to use it to communicate his word to his people. In some environments and for some messages, it is essential. Instead of discarding the approach, we should carefully consider the responsibilities of both teacher and hearer in continuing this biblical pattern of instruction.

REFERENCES

[1]  Harry S. Stout, The New England Soul: Preaching and Religious Culture in Colonial New England. Oxford University Press, 1986.

[2]  http://www.willatworklearning.com/2006/05/people_remember.html

[3]  Newsome, L.A., Wardlow, G.W., Johnson, D.M. (2005). Effects of Lecture Versus Experiential Teaching Method on Cognitive Achievement, Retention, and Attitude Among High School Agriscience Students. Proceedings from the National AAAE Research Conference. San Antonio, TX. http://aaae.okstate.edu/proceedings/2005/Articles/146.pdf.

[4]  H. V. D. Parunak. Oral Typesetting: Some Uses of Biblical Structure. Biblica 62:153-168, 1981. Copy available from the author on request.

[5]  L. A. Sherman, Analytics of Literature, Boston, 1892, p. 259. http://books.google.com/books?id=SWe0U_zp6M8C&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

[6]  The most recent edition of this classic, originally published in 1940, is M. Adler, C. L. Van Doren, How to Read a Book. Simon and Schuster, 1972.

[7]    P. N. Edwards. How to Read a Book.   University of Michigan School of Information, Ann Arbor, MI, 2008. http://pne.people.si.umich.edu/PDF/howtoread.pdf.