Discerning the Preacher-Listener Relationship

Like Paul, altering your content based on context can create self-disclosure that connects more effectively with particular listeners. However, if you dare to employ autobiography in your sermon, you must be skilled in areas beyond merely the words and images you select for a particular audience. Before you venture into talking about yourself, you must be as attuned to the particular audience as possible.

A personal account in a sermon is useless if it fails to connect with the hearts and minds of the listeners. In contrast to other types of narrative that are more "objective," self-disclosive stories run the risk of subjectivity that fails to move attention from preacher to congregants. Successful identification is established when the story rings true in the common consciousness of the audience. In order for this identification to occur, the preacher must discern the degree of relational connection established with the audience. This relational discernment is achieved by considering four variables:

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Appropriateness

A foundational concern for effective identification is determining the appropriateness of autobiography for a particular audience. Knowing the appropriateness of a self-disclosure calls for knowing the listeners with whom the disclosure might be shared. Every congregation displays certain norms, values, behaviors, outlooks. These norms of experience serve to define the congregation's style as well as their perceived "place" in the religious, social, and cultural context of which they are a part. Kenneth Burke, the renowned rhetorician, calls these norms "frames of acceptance" and "frames of rejection." Frames of acceptance include attitudes that are accepted as normal for a group. Frames of rejection are those attitudes that are spurned by the group.20

When considering using a personal story, a preacher should attempt to see the world through the congregation's frames, taking stock of their norms, values, and behavior. Does the self-disclosure reveal an attitude with which they identify? Does it reveal something about yourself that connects with their norms of experience? Or is there something about the story--or yourself--that they might reject? Sensitivity to frames of acceptance and frames of rejection is crucial, particularly when you sense that your own frames do not match theirs. Your own values and views could "color" your personal story in a way that rubs against the congregation's perspective. In cases like this, wisdom calls for deciding if the story is worth a collision of frames. To be sure, a preacher need not agree with the congregant's attitudes, nor does the story have to fit into their frames of acceptance. Often prophetic preaching is called for to challenge the congregation's norms and behavior. But here we are concerned about identification-making sure that an autobiographical story finds its mark with the particular group of hearers.