Preaching For Life Change: It’s All In Learning To Preach Like Jesus
The problem is this: When I teach God’s Word in an uninteresting way, people don’t just think I’m boring, they think God is boring! We slander God’s character if we preach with an uninspiring style or tone. The message is too important to share it with a “take-it-or-leave it” attitude.
Jesus captured the interest of large crowds with techniques that you and I can use:
He told stories to make a point
Jesus was the master storyteller. He’d say, “Hey, did you hear the one about . . .” and then tell a parable to teach a truth. In fact, the Bible shows that storytelling was Jesus’ favorite technique when speaking to the crowd. “Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.” (Matt. 13:34) Somehow preachers forget that the Bible is essentially a book of stories! That’s how God has chosen to communicate His Word to human beings.
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There are many benefits to using stories to communicate spiritual truth: Stories hold our attention. The reason television is so popular is because it’s essentially a story-telling device, whether you’re watching comedy, drama, the news, or a talk show. Even the commercials are stories. Stories stir our emotions. They impact us in ways that precepts and propositions never do. If you want to change lives you must craft the message for impact, not for information. Stories help us remember. Long after a pastor’s cute outline is forgotten, people will remember the stories of the sermon.
It’s fascinating — and sometimes comical — to watch how quickly a crowd tunes in whenever a speaker begins telling a story and how quickly that attention vanishes as soon as the story is finished!
Jesus used simple language
He didn’t use technical or theological jargon. He spoke in simple terms that normal people could understand. We need to remember that Jesus did not use the classical Greek language of the scholar. He spoke in Aramaic. He used the street language of that day and talked of birds, flowers, lost coins, and other everyday objects that anyone could relate to.
Jesus taught profound truths in simple ways. Today, we do the opposite. We teach simple truths in profound ways. Sometimes when pastors think they are being “deep” they are really just being “muddy.”
Some pastors like to show-off their knowledge by using Greek words and academic terms in preaching. They speak in an unknown tongue without being charismatic! Pastors need to realize that no one cares as much about the Greek as they do. Chuck Swindoll once told me that he believes an overuse of word studies in preaching discourages confidence in the English text. I agree.