Why is the Average Sermon Less Interesting than Most Sitcoms?
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Mon, January 29, 2007
- Viewed 74
- (16) comments so far
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 .
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...
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Peter Hamm on Mon, January 29, 2007
Don’t forget that all those sticoms are SUPER-formulaic… At least they have one thing in common with most preaching.
http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/images/smileys/wink.gif
As far as your questions.
1. Art can be taught. Talent can’t. But… Eddie Van Halen is not a great guitarist as much because of talent as because he practiced eight hours a day for years.
2. Tell more stories, be more transparent, be more conversational
4. Is there any hope for PPT? NO!
5. Yes, but often for all the wrong reasons.
6. I’m more and more convinced that Barna knows less and less what he’s talking about. “Revolution”… I’d like those hours of my life back. His conclusions drove other conclusions, the data didn’t necessarily…
drew smith on Mon, January 29, 2007
Questions: What is the point of a sermon and what is the point of a sitcom? Are they the same?
I’m wrestling with guiding a worship gathering to be more about spiritual formation which involves experiencing God, listening to God, sharing with each other and talking with God. I’m not sure the sit com template is even in the same ball park to help us with this.
I have encountered folks who seem like they want to get “beat up” by the sermon to really feel like they are in “church”.
Ken Sutton on Mon, January 29, 2007
A sitcom and a sermon appeal to two completely different aspects of who I am as a person. There is no such thing as a spiritual sitcom. Though there may be an occasional lesson to be learned and a few tears from a sitcom, it doesnt appeal to my spirit.
A sermon should be dynamic…It should transcend the feelings I get from a sitcom and go right to the heart…building me up. I truly believe that we cannot be as entertaining as a sitcom on a Sunday morning…Yet Hollywood cannot compete with a church on fire for the Lord and a Spirit filled sermon. I think that we are missing the point when we start comparing sermons with sitcoms.
I was just at the Brooklyn Tabernacle for a week of prayer and no sitcom can compare to that choir, the messages I heard or the spiritual fellowship I recieved. Art had nothing to do with what I experienced. Frankly I think that articles like this one truly expose the widening gap within the church on philosophy of ministry. People are hurting and in need of deliverance in our churches and art cannot go deep enough…
As a pastor within the Calvary movement, I struggle myself with the balance in my own sermons…every minister does. Yet at the end of the day technique cannot take the place of teaching God’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit, there will always be a crowd of people waiting to hear that.
Aaron on Mon, January 29, 2007
Sometimes Christians take uninteresting as spiritual. “Too spiritual to be relevant”. I think at times they speak a language most other people do not speak, then we condemn them for being secular. While creativity should not trump sound theology, one should also be careful not to sound to pious about “getting God right”. (I think that may fall under pride.) The challenge throughout the Bible and human history is to reveal godliness and Christ in all cultures. Some pastors enjoy preaching to a Christian audience while others enjoy bridging these cultures and seek to bring moments of heaven here on earth. Let each person choose which house they want to be a part. And we don’t need to waste energy criticizing the other.
Tim Bednar on Mon, January 29, 2007
Earl—thanks.
Ken in Jersey on Mon, January 29, 2007
God’s word commands that we “exercise ourselves toward godliness.”
Spiritual laziness and/or deadness is one reason people prefer sitcoms over sermons.
Another reason is that love for God’s word is not taught by example. This comes from having a preacher who loves God’s word and shows it in his ministry & preaching priorities. If people are taught to value God’s word from the pulpit, they will begin to do so in their lives, and then they will come to a worship service hungry for more of God’s word. That’s what’s needed to have a church that would far rather hear God’s word taught than watch “Friends.”
Yet I do believe it is useful to consider the manner in which preaching is an art form. I think the most significant way is the manner in which preaching, unlike any other form of speaking, demands preparation that is dependent on the Holy Spirit. Thus, effective preaching is not mechanical, predictable, or canned.
However, if one focuses solely on how to make preaching more entertaining, people will continue to watch “Friends” instead. Their souls won’t be nourished by sheer artistry. The word must be loved and taught, and the Holy Spirit’s power must be sought, if preaching is to make a lasting impression.
Ken
Ken on Mon, January 29, 2007
Great post Ken and I like your name, your parents had good taste.
Sean Alsobrooks on Mon, January 29, 2007
I think boring church is a sin. Come on now.
How is it that we can take the best news ever, the greatest story ever and make it boring. I don’t know how, but many of us are guilty of doing just that.
I agree, nothing can compare with the Holy Spirit supernaturally touching people and this is what an annointed message and preacher brings. The Word in all it’s power and truth and fullness must be taught.
However, I think saying that there will always be an audience for “that type” of preaching is obviously wrong. At least when it comes to an audience of the unsaved. Church attendance in America is droping faster than ever. Being relevant and entertaining in today’s culture is a MUST.
I looked up “entertaining” in the dictionary….it says, “To capture and hold one’s attention.”
Is that really so bad? What church or preacher doesn’t want to do that?
As stupid as it sounds, I believe too often we think we can get away with being boring just because, “it’s church”.
Ken in Jersey on Tue, January 30, 2007
Sean,
I agree with you. I believe preaching, and worship, should be intelligible to the outsider and should capture their attention aesthetically as well - God deserves our best, the message deserves our best.
My concern is leaning too heavily on aesthetic changes. While they are important, and I’ll even say “vital,” we can’t have a discussion like this without discussing deeper matters of the soul(s). As pastors we need to be “physicians of the soul.”
I guess I was a little troubled by what was NOT said in this essay more that what WAS said. And I don’t hold that against the writer, but as we grapple with what he wrote I think we need to fill in some blanks.
I say this as someone who is trying to make aesthetic changes at my own church. It is actually this process that leads me toward caution. That and history.
Ken
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take surveys online on Sun, March 29, 2009
me and my wife talked about this. some times the sermon is very long boring and unable to understand. When you watch sitcoms its very enjoyable. thats my thought.
panel on Thu, April 16, 2009
Sermons will probably become shorter in the future.
wholesale jewelry on Mon, May 04, 2009
Why is the Average Sermon Less Interesting than Most Sitcoms?——I don’t know!
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