2nd Opinion: Things journalism taught me about preaching

I attended seminary to be a pastor, but not before going to college to be a TV producer. Part of my media education involved a journalism course. The professor was a bulldog, unapologetically committed to making me better, whether I wanted it or not.

Joseph BarrettAlthough I reviled her at the time, I look back with warm memories of her passion. She made me a more disciplined pastor without knowing I would become one. Her journalism course taught me several lessons about preaching:

Be clear and concise

A visiting preacher borrowed my pulpit to preach for a search committee. Supposing this was his only opportunity to impress them, he combined all the sermons he ever heard into one super-jumbo-sized amalgam of Jesus soup that lasted forever. News articles always have a word limit. There is only so much space for the main point, so spit it out already! Sermons should answer questions parishioners are dying to ask: So what? Why should I care? What should I do? Who is this Jesus fellow, anyway? What is the real revelation of God for today?

If people leave worship unsure what the preacher said, the sermon failed. True sermons do not happen because it is Sunday morning and the preacher has to say something; they happen because the preacher has something to say. Preachers should make sure people understand what that thing is. They should:

• Select one main text.

• Preach no longer than 30 minutes. This applies to everyone.

• Quickly state the main thrust of the sermon.

• Avoid run-on sentences and flowery, vague grammar.

• Never allow a single “um,” “uh,” “like,” “OK,” “literally,” “basically,” “you know” or “so.” Filler words mean nothing.

• Not mumble. If the preacher does not seem to believe in the sermon, the congregation will not believe in it, either.

• Not yell. When preachers yell, parishioners don’t hear words; they just hear anger.

Prepare

When journalists neglect fact-checking, newspapers print errors. When preachers neglect research, God’s people hear less than truth. Retractions are hard to make while fumbling through disorderly notes, looking for something worth uttering, with hundreds of people looking on. Pastors who preach “what the Lord gave me between the parsonage and pulpit” are the ones whose churches form committees to move the parsonage farther from the church. They use time-filling clichés, such as, “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.”

Worshippers need to be in touch with God’s word. That will not happen if the preacher is not in touch with it first. Hype and filler are no substitute for time spent reading good sources and reviewing the Bible text over and over again.

A good pastor is busy. A preacher should reserve some time anyway, even at the cost of sacrificing other work, to focus and research for preaching. There is no other time during the week to reach more ears with God’s word than during worship. People wake up and get dressed, burn gas and sacrifice their Sunday off. That takes effort. Imagine how disappointing it could be to come and find the preacher has not put any effort into the sermon.

Avoid technical language

Pilots talk yaw and pitch, ailerons and flaps. A golfer talks about swinging with his driver, and someone who knows nothing about golf thinks he is disclosing an extra-marital affair with his chauffeur. Not everyone knows those phrases. A journalist who insists on using the word “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis” to describe lung inflammation would quickly lose readers. The congregation already knows the preacher is smart, so the preacher can drop the long words.

Spinning the truth is the same as lying

Occasionally, journalists tend to make news rather than report it. They may be trying to win favor or increase readership, but they do not benefit their readers. The same is true of preaching. A preacher who arrives at a difficult text in the Bible and tries to whitewash the truth may win favor, but the preacher is not doing the parishioners any favors. They came to church to hear the truth.

It is amazing enough that anyone in our culture still believes the church possesses the truth, so when some come to hear truth, they should receive it unprocessed and unfiltered. Some passages are not smooth stones. Some are not easy to pick up and hurl out to waiting ears. Some passages have thorns and may even startle with new implications for life and faith. It should be preached it as it is. The preacher should not spin the truth.

So what?

If more preachers answer the “so what?” questions of faith, that is a step in the right direction toward fulfilling their calling. Preachers who have a sincere calling are my heroes. So, remember the solemn instructions: “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2).

Joseph Barrett is pastor of Central Baptist Church in Italy, Texas.