A Partnership Approach
Preaching should not be one-way communication but involve various partners for preaching; there is collaboration. This involves input before the sermon, monitoring the pulse of the congregation during the sermon and drawing appropriate feedback after the sermon.

When I was a guest preacher in a church that was noted for its diversity, I aimed for collaboration. I asked my former student who was a member of the pastoral staff to gather a group of people who were varied in ethnicity, gender, and age for me to meet. We met in advance of the preaching to discuss my chosen passage, Eph. 2:14-22. This passage reflects the breaking down of ethnic walls as believers are one entity in Christ. Good insights were gleaned from the members during this Bible study session.

During the sermon, they made notes on feedback sheets on how I connected ethnically with the congregation plus answered standard feedback questions. After the usual post-service formalities, I met with them to review  their written and verbal comments. This exercise was highly instructive for me. It provided insight, illustrations, and application to the text beyond my usual way of seeing.

We cannot always follow such an extensive procedure for weekly preaching. Alternatively, I have asked a few people to email me their insights and questions about an upcoming preaching text and also to provide feedback. I have telephoned others. The more we involve others, the better. This reflects the body of Christ in action.

There are times we speak to the people and other times we speak for the people. I find that those who supply the perspective are the most attentive and the most prayerful during my preaching. Whether or not I use their specific insight, I always thank my contributors. They enhanced my view of the passage and the preaching occasion.

We may not overtly choose passages that speak about ethnicity or peer only through the lens of ethnicity for our preaching. We should at least consider the ethnicity issue along with other factors as we preach in context.

Illustrating and Applying
Preachers usually illustrate out of their own life situation. As the preacher moves through various life stages like parenting, empty nesting, and retirement, these are reflected in the illustrations. It’s not that these are wrong, but do they relate to the congregation? What about the immigrant experience – the challenges of being a visible minority struggling with language? What about a teenager who cannot express to a parent what she thinks or feels because she doesn’t have the adequate vocabulary in the “mother tongue”?  These may be life situations in the congregation that are not in the life of the preacher.

While one cannot address every member’s situation in every sermon, how about touching on something that resonates with each person in the course of a month? I have found a helpful grid to track the use of sermon illustrations and references by Joseph R. Jeter Jr. and Ronald J. Allen (Jeter and Allen, pp. 179-81).  On the vertical column are different categories such as Anglo Americans, African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Native American and other cultures. On the horizontal column are different generational categories. You check off each category used over the course of a month. You need to construct your own grid based on your own congregation. The categories can be more refined. It is instructive to see which groups are included and which are excluded after a month of preaching.