Why is the Average Sermon Less Interesting than Most Sitcoms?

Orginally published on Monday, January 29, 2007 at 7:00 AM
by Earl Creps

Every day I get a couple of email newsletters about the television industry. I get only one weekly preaching-related newsletter, and I usually delete it without opening the email because I don't pay the monthly fee required to follow the links to the really good stuff. Hmmmmm....that makes it 2:1 in favor of television. And I'm a preacher myself. But I am also a TV viewer. And while I cannot produce survey research to prove it, I would bet my moldering paper files that most people find the average sitcom more interesting than the average sermon (my own included). I hear a lot of preaching that is true, but not engaging. In other words, the talk is clear, sincere, relates the Scripture accurately and even applies them to everyday life in very practical ways. It's just that nothing is touched in me beyond my understanding of the content. Maybe I'm unusual, but that's just not enough...

These messages feel like Teflon, instead of like Velcro. They slip off instead of sticking.

They are true, but artless, lacking abduction, the ability to grip the imagination. (See Sweet & McLaren, “A" Is for Abductive).

There are some technical things that can help, e.g., shorten the talk to 25 minutes, use props, ditch PPT in favor of video, use a manuscript instead of an outline, team-based preparation, discussion, etcl But even all those features cumulatively don’t add up to a preaching aesthetic, to the faculty for artistic expression.

My concern is that Boomer-style conversational speaking ("I’m your practical, palms-up, powerpointing, pal") which is basically cloned from the corporate environment that shapes so much of Boomer ministry has crushed art in favor of clarity as its highest value. No one has ever said this to me, but I suspect that Boomers (like me) deliberately sought separation from our predecessors in sermon style. Seeing older preachers as too emotional, not organized enough, and way, way too spiritual to be relevant, lots of Anglo Boomers (certainly not all) opted for Sunday morning “talks” that sound more like a conference briefing than the impassioned appeal of yesteryear.

Here’s one example of the distinction I see: to “briefing” preachers"storytelling" refers to the illustration at the end of the sermon. To artistic preachers, following Fred Craddock, the story is the sermon and the sermon is the story.

So I’m left with some troubling questions:

1. Can art be taught, or can enough of it be taught, so that preachers can learn to touch the imagination (I’ll spot you that stories are helpful.)

2. How can we make the preaching arts appealing enough so that the best and brightest of our artists and intellectuals will at least be open to the possibility that they might be used in this calling.

3. How is preaching “artful” apart from storytelling or narrative preaching per se?

4. Is there any hope for PPT?

5. Have you met people, as I have, who feel that long, dry (or screaming) sermons are more spiritual for both the preacher and the listener?

6. I’m aware of the Barna surveys that report both preachers and parishioners as fairly satisfied with the average sermon. How do we make sense of that? 

So maybe the average sitcom is more engaging than the average sermon, not because it is more true or more valuable, but because it is (sometimes) more artful. Given the choice between spending a half hour in either setting, millions of people, church members among them would choose the sitcom.

BTW: I’ve seen all of the above issues in my own speaking way too often.

BTW 2: This blog is the first-ever document I have composed on Google’s online word processor. You’ve just gotta try it! Thanks to Tim Bednar (http://www.turtleinteractive.com/) for the tip. You can find the Google version at: http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dfrd87xs_0cmh56w

TAGS:  Earl Creps, Preaching, Church Leadership

About the Author:  Earl Creps has spent several years visiting congregations that are attempting to engage emerging culture. He directs doctoral studies for the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri (http://www.agts.edu).  Earl and his wife Janet have pastored three churches, one Boomer, one Builder, and one GenX. He speaks, trains, and consults with ministries around the country. Earl’s book, Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders, was published by Jossey-Bass/Leadership Network in 2006. Connect with Earl at http://www.earlcreps.com .

 

 

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