Now it's time to give some practical suggestions on designing interactive sermons and framing questions that will assist helpful participation. I am only beginning to explore this area and so I make the following proposals with a degree of uncertainty. My ideas have been informed by Bond's insightful book, Interactive Preaching. I'm sure those who are preaching regularly to postmoderns will be able to take these preliminary thoughts further.
In discussion we talk about our opinions and generally try to convince others that our opinions are correct. We tend to see ourselves as unbiased observers stating our carefully considered judgments. On the other hand, in dialogue we talk about our feelings and experiences trying to unearth our prejudices and biases so that we may better understand ourselves and others.
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In general, opinions tend to produce confusion, argument, conflict, judgmentalism, and even heresy. They separate us from our feelings and experiences rather than leading us to, and helping us share, our experiences. They use detached, secondary language. They often lead us away from the truth of Scripture and insulate us from hearing the meaning of the text. If the listeners share opinions, the main theme of the sermon may be obscured and the audience will be less certain of what the text is saying. So while opinions may be interesting, generally they will not be helpful to the sermon unless you are trying to show the variety of opinions on the subject.
So in interactive preaching, you're generally looking for personal stories, not opinions. You want stories that will help the participants understand and experience the Scripture. Beware of asking questions that the audience can answer purely on a detached, intellectual level. Look for questions that explore feelings, experiences, stories, and images.
It may help to suggest a few different categories of questions that you could use to promote dialogue. These types of questions encourage people to look inside their lives and experiences. The purpose of putting questions in categories is to help ensure that there is some variety in the interaction. I'm sure that these categories overlap and they really only provide a starting point. I'm also sure that you will think of other categories as you become more experienced in interactive preaching. I will illustrate using simple questions designed to create interaction in sermons on the parable of the prodigal son and the story of David and Goliath.
1. Life experience questions
These questions encourage people to share experiences from their own lives. They help people remember feelings from the past that pertain to the Scripture passage and its message. They are designed to probe the life stories of the audience to come up with helpful illustration and application. Generally you find the more specific the answers, the better. Life experience questions on the prodigal son may be: