I once had to give a missionary presentation to a thousand youth on a Sunday afternoon in the heat and humidity of the summer. I knew I would have difficulty engaging the youth. When I stood up to speak, the crowd was already tired and restless. It was going to be next to impossible to get their attention and to keep it.
Without saying anything or letting anyone know what I was doing, I stood behind the pulpit and pulled out a package of large firecrackers and lit the entire package. I then they threw the firecrackers over the pulpit down in front of the teenagers. There was thunderous noise as the fireworks exploded. Because they had not seen me light the firecrackers, the youth did not know what happened; they just heard the noise. Instantly, I had their attention. They were engaged.
The use of the firecrackers was not disconnected from my message. In fact it was a perfect introduction. I was speaking about missionary work in Hong Kong and went on to tell how the Chinese set off firecrackers to scare away evil spirits.
Boredom: The great enemy
Boredom in the pew is the great enemy of all preachers. I know from experience! I’ve bored people from Sri Lanka to Seattle and Zambia to Leningrad. I’ve bored people with wonderful biblical content that was poorly presented. I’ve bored people by being irrelevant, insensitive to culture, lacking enthusiasm and being too predictable. I’ve done it with a monotone voice that lacked animation.
I study people in churches. I’ve watched them come to a service late deliberately to miss the music but to hear the sermon. I’ve watched other people enthusiastically sing and praise, then emotionally check out when I started to preach. Like the Apostle Paul, I’ve put people to sleep while I was speaking. So far, no one has fallen out a window!
When God shows up in church, no one is bored. No one was ever bored listening to Jesus. If Jesus was never boring, why should his representatives be boring?
The preacher’s responsibility
Overcoming boredom in the pew is the responsibility of the preacher, not the listener. A speaker must grab the attention of his audience and keep them engaged with what he says by the way he says it. He must work at being a communicator, not just a talker. If he does what comes naturally, he will probably bore people 100% of the time! A preacher determines whether he is boring or exciting by the way he speaks! If we don’t engage people, we might as well stop talking.
Engagement has more to do with communication skills than with the content of the message. The content can be biblically correct, but if it is not attractively and creatively presented, it will have little impact. Congregations do not just respond to content, they react to the person who is communicating the message. This is why Paul told Titus, Make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way. (Titus 2:10).
Engagement won’t happen unless the audience sees personal value in the message and is intrigued. Preaching that engages people and overcomes boredom is life-related. It provides answers to the questions of everyday life. The preacher’s mindset should not be just to deliver a sermon but to actually help people.
Preaching style is determined by the setting. I must adjust my approach to the audience to which I am speaking. I use a different style at a funeral than with a youth group. My style is not the same when I am preaching to 20 as when I am addressing 2,000. Sometimes I use a conversational style; sometimes I use a declarative style. Often I use rhetorical questions. The style I use is affected by the importance of the subject, but it must always be engaging. There is no excuse for being boring.
How do we connect with the audience? How do we get the attention of the audience and keep it? How do we make ourselves understood?
1. PICK THE RIGHT TOPIC
Overcoming boredom starts with picking the right message-topic. In one sense, the Bible contains the entirety of God’s message to our world. In another sense, God has a particular message for each situation. At one time or another, I have preached from each book in the Bible. But the message of each book in the Bible and every verse in a chapter does not have the relevant topic for a particular situation.
Effective communication does not require sacrificing content; it starts with great content. Great communicators do not resort to fluff and hype. Gospel preaching means presenting eternal truth through your biography and personality.
Only God’s word has power to bring about permanent life-change. Creativity is necessary, but is not a substitute for biblical truth. Determine what is relevant to the audience’s circumstances. What interests them?
The Bible is totally relevant, but not every verse is necessarily relevant to today’s situation. One verse may be relevant to someone who needs hope, another to someone who needs to repent and still another to someone fearful of sharing his faith.
Pick a topic that excites you. If your message doesn’t excite you, it won’t excite anyone else. The more enthusiastic you are about the subject, the more this will transfer to your audience.
A preaching committee
I have used a preaching committee in some churches. The people in the congregation never knew about this group who met regularly to help me. They were empowered to help me be a better preacher. They pointed out distracting mannerisms and idiosyncrasies that I needed to avoid. They helped me understand the issues people were struggling with. They talked about concerns in marriage and family. They talked about the struggles people had with their finances. They gave me sermon topics and all I needed to do was pray and find the Bible answers to the situation.
2. PRESENT YOUR MESSAGE WITH CREATIVITY
Great communicators are not born that way. They develop communication skills through hard work, discipline and following great examples.
Once when I was preaching a series on spiritual gifts, I struggled to come up with a way to make it engaging for the congregation. My son gave me a great illustration. He suggested I walk out on the platform to start my sermon dressed as if I was golfing and carrying a bag of golf clubs. Of course this unusual start to the sermon got everyone’s attention.
At the appropriate time I pulled out several practice balls – balls that looked like regular golf balls but which were filled with air. I then hit several of them out into the audience.
I had everyone’s attention!
I went on to explain how each of the clubs in the golf bag had a specific purpose. Some clubs were designed for long distances and some for short distances. Some were designed to hit the ball high and others to his the ball low to the ground. Others were designed to hit the ball out of trouble.
I had the audience’s attention and the application was easy for everyone to grasp. They had never seen a pastor hit golf balls from the platform. It was then easy to go on to explain how spiritual gifts are like the clubs in the bag. Just as each golf club is needed in certain circumstances and has a purpose, so it is with spiritual gifts. All are necessary. In some rounds of golf, there are clubs that may be used only once or twice in a round.
Prepare to be creative
All Bible content can be fascinating when it is presented in a creative way, but it doesn’t happen by chance. It takes preparation. There is no substitute for preparation.
As you prepare, constantly ask yourself how will people respond. The question is not whether the Bible is true or whether the people agree with it. The question is, how can I present this so people will be interested enough to listen and engage? Will they give me a hearing?
One pastor on my staff preached as if he was flying by the seat of his pants. When he spoke, he had lots of animation and excitement, but it was obvious there had been little preparation. It was exciting but disjointed. It lacked biblical depth. He spoke out of the inspiration of the moment, and it showed.
Creativity is not a substitute for spiritual preparation. Prepare yourself and prepare your material. There is no shortcut. Pray throughout the preparation process. Engagement is ultimately a work of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit works when we pray. If there are no tears in the preacher, there will be no tears in the audience! In a world where people are bombarded by multisensory communication, a preacher is only fooling himself if he can stand up in front of people and speak without any creative illustrations.
Start your research with the Bible. Ask three questions: What does it say? What does it mean? How does it apply to me? Then ask, how can I, without compromising the truth, present this creatively to engage the audience.
Guard against predictability.
Using the same vocabulary and clichés is a reason for the listeners to stop paying attention. Doing the same thing the same way all the time loses impact with the audience. Make sure your voice demonstrates enthusiasm.
3. PROCLAIM YOUR MESSAGE WITH CONFIDENCE
I have deep convictions as I get up to preach. I remind myself that I don’t just have a sermon; I have a message from God. If anyone speaks, he should do so as one speaking the very words of God. (1 Peter 4:11).
That gives me tremendous confidence. I don’t rely on my creativity to get the job done; I rely on the Holy Spirit to apply the Scripture, to exalt Jesus, to bring conviction and life-change.
I am convinced of the truth of the Bible’s message. I have no hesitancy about the authority, accuracy or truthfulness of the Scripture. My creativity is not what gives me confidence; it’s the authority of the Scripture.
I am convinced of the power of the message. I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. (Romans 1:18). The gospel has the power to change the life of anyone who receives Christ personally. The message of the gospel is life-altering.
I am convinced of the timeliness of the message. Nothing could be more appropriate to the questions the people of the world are asking than the honest application of the Scripture. Nothing is more needed than an understanding of how the gospel applies to today’s world.
I am convinced of the urgency of the message. This is a life and death matter. Eternity is in the balance. People are hurting. They are searching for help and the world is not offering meaningful answers.
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