Though I teach cross-cultural communication, I am increasingly seeing a need to instruct on how to communicate mono-culturally. Actually, the principles are the same, but the key is context. Theoretically it should be easier to know the mono-cultural context but my experience in listening to a few sermons in the U.S., off-and-on over the past seven months, prompt me to share some thoughts on communication. Here are a few simple suggestions on sermon delivery. 1. Create a Narrative, NOT Repeat History. I heard a pastor speak a few weeks back on Elijah, and basically his sermon was a review of a chapter in 2 Kings. Elijah is one of my favorite Old Testament characters and his story is chock-full of great applications, but the pastor didn’t create a narrative he just methodically read verse-by-verse recounting the story, pausing occasionally to make a point. The message meandered like a lazy stream in the flat lands of Mississippi. No real purpose in the sermon, just a story about one who lived a long time ago.
2. Leave The Lexicon In the Study - I don’t mind digging out the meaning of a verse from the Greek or Hebrew to bring the text into context, but I weary with pastors who feel the urge to make their sermons into a hermeneutics class. (It was the dullest class I had in Bible College and it’s even worse when you have to sit through it but don’t get credit).
3. Dress Appropriately – Can we please get past the Rick Warren Hawaiian shirts? I don’t mind casual, but I do have a problem with sloppy. On the other hand, I know a few brothers who are so full of themselves (they are the ones who are constantly looking at their reflection in the window) who feel as though they have to wear expensive suit while the farmers in their congregation are wearing jeans. If a speakers dress, sloppy or fashionable, is a distraction, you lose the power of communication. One of my professors told us that he only wears a white shirt, black tie and black suit when he preaches. He takes off his ring(s) and watch because, “I want people to hear the message and not be distracted by what I wear.” Perhaps a bit radical, but I never forgot his point. The spotlight is to be on the message of Christ, not the speaker.
4. Have ONE Theme – Can you tell me what last Sunday’s sermon was about? If you can’t it’s because the sermon had so many points and sub-points that the average hearer got lost in the maze of information. One pastor, who I really think is brilliant, is tedious to listen to because HE KNOWS TOO MUCH. Sometimes I believe he gets lost in his own sermon as he goes down one bunny trail to the next. If you can get people to come away with ONE thought, you’ve done your job well.
The list on how to communicate effectively is long, but it can be boiled down to this: Know your audience, have one theme, tell the story in a way that is relevant to their lives. Knowing the message is only half of the job, effectively delivering the message is just as important.
