Danger of heresy. Heresy is an even greater danger than loss of direction. If invited to participate, people can make statements (either by design or ignorance) that contain heresy. Again, the design of the interaction can minimize the opportunity for this to occur. Heresy is more likely to flow from opinions than experiences, from discussion as opposed to dialogue. But should a clearly heretical statement be made, it must be corrected in some way because the sermon is designed to be authoritative truth. Whether it is named as heresy or simply corrected by making another comment is probably determined by the perceived intent of the person who made the comment. Interactive preaching certainly requires courage.

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Need for further skills. Some preachers may be gifted and trained in preaching, but may not have the skills required to lead audience interaction. You need to be able to think quickly and to bounce off what others are sharing. It also helps to be able to draw diverse strands together. Most skills can be learned by practice. Start by leading times of sharing in worship. When you feel more confident, introduce a question into your sermon. Make sure you make every effort to keep to dialogue, not discussion. Look through the types of questions specified below. One thing is absolutely vital. You need to value the responses. Those who interact must feel that they have contributed. If they lose face in front of their peers, interaction will become a negative experience. It helps if you come down to the audience when interacting. This may not always be possible, but it produces a more conducive environment for interaction.

Lack of involvement. With small audiences, you might be able to encourage 30% of the audience to interact, but in larger audiences that will reduce to 10 to 20%. There will always be a significant proportion of people who will say nothing. Fostering interaction in larger audiences is more difficult because time limitations mean that only a tiny percentage can participate. I'm not sure that a limited proportion of people interacting is a major problem if those willing and able to interact adequately represent the feelings and experiences of the listeners. Five interactors is a major increase on one (the preacher). Ways to encourage interaction in a reluctant audience include asking easy and uncomplicated questions that people understand, choosing questions that require short, simple answers with little personal revelation, and being ready to rephrase or change questions if they draw blank looks. People will gain confidence as you value their responses and they feel that they can contribute to the sermon.

Difficult people. Some difficult people love a microphone and a captive audience. There have been times when I have had to limit spontaneous sharing in services because it was attracting the wrong people. People can use opportunities for interaction to draw attention to themselves, promote their hobbyhorses, lobby the congregation, or sponsor their opinions on issues. The danger of difficult people abusing the opportunity significantly reduces the advantages of interaction. All I can say again is that sometime you have to take a risk. But let me offer a few suggestions about handling difficult people in interactive sessions. Firstly, never let go of the microphone. Once a person has the microphone in their hands it is extremely difficult to wrest back control. If you are using a microphone on a stand, stay close to the person so that you can intervene if necessary. Secondly, promote short responses. This way any inappropriate comment will at least be brief. Thirdly, always treat people with respect. The audience is looking at your behavior as well as listening to your sermon. Fourthly, if you experience a perennial, problem person, you may need to deal with the issue personally outside the service. Fifthly, encourage a form of signaling desire for interaction from the audience that allows you some choice. If responders walk forward to a microphone, you have little choice. But if they have to raise their hand, you have some choice between those wanting to contribute.