Another listener is quite direct in wanting to get an interpretation of God’s perspective. “This [the content of the sermon] is something God would have me do that I can do to help me improve my life, to improve my relationship with my neighbor, to my family, to my church, to my community, whatever. That would be number one on my list: daily application.”

In these respects, some of the interviewees call for courage. “Approach life from an honest standpoint. Don’t pull punches. Talk about the difficult things. Bring them up. Try to relate them to what God’s will would be. Be brave. Don’t back off from things. Don’t just say what you think the congregation would want you to say.” From another congregation, we hear examples of such preaching. “Don’t be afraid to say, ‘This is how it is. God wants us to feed people. God wants us to clothe people. God wants us to love one another and to help one another. If you were going to tell me them anything to energize me, it’s ‘Don’t be afraid to take a stand.’”

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Many participants in the study say they are engaged by sermons that cause them to think about God in a fresh way. Many of these folk want to come away from the sermon with important ideas about which to think during the week, and some like to be stretched intellectually. A few hearers put this item at the top of their list. “For me, [the first way to energize me] would be for the sermon to be thought provoking, yet non-prescriptive and not to separate the spiritual from the intellectual.” We hear such motifs in one who says, “Leave room for thinking. Don’t close the subject — open it up.” Another listener says expressly, “Give me credit for being able to handle abstract, sophisticated thought.”

A Strong Pastoral Relationship as Foundation to Preaching

Many hearers in the study indicate that their perception of the minister’s relationship with the congregation enhances (or detracts) from their receptivity to the sermon. When they believe that the preacher is a person of integrity who cares about them and who is faithful in areas of ministry beyond preaching, they tend to take seriously what the preacher says. A lay person says, “My advice would be: what’s more important [than the sermon itself] is what happens when you’re not behind the pulpit, but when you’re out in the congregation milling around with your congregation.”

One auditor says that a key to giving a “meaningful” message is to “know your members, really, so that you know to whom you’re speaking and how appropriate it is.” Another listener addresses the pastor’s relationship, “I think a preacher should have a good relationship with everybody in the congregation. Get to know them and don’t have your favorites.” A member of a different congregation reports similarly, “A minister has to be somebody that I can feel good about, that I can relate to, that treats everyone equally. I don’t like to see a minister split a church.” When the latter does take place, this listener finds it hard to continue to pay attention to the sermons.