From Mars Hill To The Movie: Preaching With Cultural Icons To Engage Culture
By Marc T. Newman
I do not think that focusing on the text is incompatible with the careful use of images. Robert Webber claims that "An art form speaks to us and acts upon us as it serves the text of worship" (113). The key to the use of media images in preaching is not exclusion but hierarchy. Images must serve the text or they are of no value.
Some preachers use images as a substitute for content. Beautiful PowerPoint slides and captivating video may leave congregations in awe of your technical prowess, but scratching their heads as to the meaning of the message. Images cannot rescue a poorly prepared sermon, but they can certainly make a good one better.
Advertisement
The best preaching is already visual. The purpose of parable or allegory is to create an image. When people can imagine the outworking of a story — if they can see how the biblical principle works or applies to them — the preaching leaves the realm of the abstract and finds a place in their lives. Unfortunately, not all preachers are gifted storytellers. Even those that are would be hard-pressed to find examples and illustrations as powerfully envisioned as those produced in Hollywood. Carefully reasoned expository preaching that incorporates the emotional impact of professionally crafted drama can create a lasting impression.
I once heard an interview with Donald Williams in which he discussed Sir Philip Sidney's work, "The Defence of Poesie." Sidney wrote it in 1580 — and what he had to say about literature then is just as true of movies today.
Sidney argued that stories were better at communicating the truth than either philosophy or history. Philosophy was great at providing abstract moral and ethical thought, but it was powerless to point to concrete examples of people who lived them out. History was shackled by what actually happened, so it could lead people to real world examples, but few of them were truly exemplary.
Stories have the strengths of both philosophy and history, and none of the drawbacks. Screenwriters and directors are free to take any ideal and create a character to embody it. In film, ideals and examples can come together to inspire people to become better, or to warn them about the consequences of doing wrong. These illustrations cannot supplant good expository preaching, but they can and should support it.
If film clips are to be used effectively in preaching, guidelines concerning number and placement need to be observed. How many clips should be used in a single message? For preachers who are new to video usage the prospect of illustrating an entire message with vibrant images can be very seductive. I warn against using more than a couple of film illustrations in a single message — one of which should be an opener or a closer. Movie clips are expansive. If the focus is to remain on the text, it is important not to overwhelm the congregation.