A Church for a Guy Like Me: Making the Case for Less Assumptive Preaching

"There ought to be a church for a guy like me," Rick said. The words left me speechless and has changed the trajectory of my sermon development and delivery ever since. We were sitting at a Furr's Cafeteria in East Dallas having lunch. I had met Rick just three days before on the Sunday after the worship service that I helped plan. In one conversation Rick changed my preaching forever.

Rick didn't go to church until that last Sunday. Having moved back in with his parents, who lived behind the church where I interned as a seminary student, Rick was in debt after another failed marriage. He hoped for a church that would help him make sense of his broken dreams and navigate a better future path. He assumed this church might help. This church assumed more than Rick had hoped. He told me as much as we shared lunch that day, now almost 25 years ago. Below are three things Rick taught me to "Assume Less" about when preaching …

Assume Less About Listener Interest

Too many preachers fail to ask themselves what every successful fisherman asks. They fail to ask what bait will hook their listeners. Preachers may think that because their seminary training only needed an open Bible and syllabus notes to learn effectively that the same should be true for their learners, as well.

This line of thinking assumes that what was good enough for the preacher's training in discipleship should be sufficient for everyone else. "My Bible teachers didn't cater to me, and I learned the material presented just fine," the preacher may think. This thinking assumes more motivation than is typically true for many who are listening to a sermon.

The learner is more motivated to engage the sermon's subject when it addresses life crises the learner is experiencing. These crises may be obvious, such as an impending divorce or the death of a friend. Other life crises are less dramatic to the outside observer but equally intense for the person experiencing them. Examples include relational conflict with an employee, worry about a child's schooling or the security of the world post-September 11. The learner is highly motivated to engage the proposition proposed when the preacher speaks to the concerns that are on the hearts of the hearers and does so from a theological perspective. These same preachers actively look for opportunities to address problems as they surface in the text.

When preachers speak to the crises that hold learners hostage, the learners are motivated to engage the sermon's content. Identifying common themes that constitute inner crises will help the preacher identify issues the sermons should address. The internal conflict of people in the pew may include an unsatisfied longing, unresolved rationality, moral dilemmas, relational alienation and an impending fear of human mortality.

"Less assumptive" preaching won't assume the listener is interested. After a busy week and a relational conflict at home, the listener needs the preacher to create the "crisis" that demands the listener's attention.