 1 of 3
 
PREACHING SKILLSClearlyHow to preach so everyone understandsHaddon Robinson
When Napoleon sent out his messengers he gave them three instructions: be clear, be clear, and be clear. There are several challenges facing preachers who desire to do just that.
First, there's a tendency to roam through the whole Bible, bringing in all kinds of things to enhance what we're saying. We end up saying too much; and as a result, communicating too little. We start out stalking bear, but are soon distracted by some rabbits we'd like to chase. Before long, we're chasing this and adding that and missing the bear we started after at the outset. So less is more.
We also deal with the challenge of oral communication. Preachers have to work at clarity because the spoken word lacks some of the built in aids inherent to writing. When you're writing, you can utilize paragraph divisions, punctuations marks, and things in quotes. You can't do that when you're preaching. Also, if I don't get what the preacher is saying the first time, I can't go back and mentally review; because if I do I won't hear what he is saying now. The preacher has the responsibility of helping his congregation think clearly.
Someone who writes out his sermons in an effort to be clear can often cause the opposite effect because of the written style. If that's the case, then how can we bridge the gap between clarity in our notes and clarity in our presentation?
Begin by being clear about your subject. When you've worked through your notes, you ought to be able to answer two questions. One is, "What am I talking about?" You ought to be able to state in precise, definite terms what this sermon is about. For example, "Why I should be committed?" or, "Where do I serve Christ most effectively?" We call this the subject, but it's really the answer to the question: "What am I talking about?"
Then, you should be able to answer the next question: "What am I saying about what I'm talking about?" "What are the major assertions I'm making about that question?" Clarity often fails because we haven't nailed those two things down prior to arrival in the pulpit.
Expository preachers have to ask themselves an additional question: "What's my purpose?" Topical preachers have the advantage of having a purpose, often embedded right in their title. An expository preacher, however, tends to start and end with the text, never answering "Why are you preaching this sermon this Sunday?" The fact that you're supposed to fill the pulpit from 11:25 to 12:00 isn't good enough.
A good outline always helps with clarity. You can use the outline to design the sermon as you would a conversation, so that each point is related to what goes before. For example, if you were preaching a sermon on forgiveness, the introduction might deal with why you're bringing this up. Your first movement could say, "Forgiveness is necessary." The second could be, "But even though forgiveness is necessary, we often find it difficult." Likewise the third could follow, "But I have good news. As difficult as forgiveness might be, Christians can excel at it because we are followers of Jesus Christ."
These major movements in the sermon can be read like a conversation rather than three bare statements. This enables you to have an outline, but it doesn't stick out like a skeleton. It also acknowledges the fact that the "one-two-three things I have to say" type of outline seems to be less popular today. Sometimes that's what you want if your purpose is to be clear. But if every sermon takes this form, it can lead to boredom.
Another way to add clarity to a sermon is, first, clearly orient the audience to the body of the sermon right in the introduction. A preacher might say at the end of the introduction, "God sometimes keeps his promises to us by performing miracles or performing miracles in us." But if that's all he's going to say, folks already have the sermon. If he asks, "Now what exactly does that mean, to say that God performs miracles or performs miracles in us?" he secures the chance to develop clarity, because the congregation has the whole idea, and the preacher has the opportunity to clarify that idea through the body of the sermon.
You can also add clarity by restating key ideas. Suppose you begin by saying, "We want to talk today about how to know the will of God." Continue by restating this idea several times: "When we are confused about what God wants us to do, how can we determine his direction in our lives? Where would we turn to determine God's will? How do we go about knowing the will of God?" It seems laborious when you're preaching, but restating the subject several times in different ways makes it stand out in people's minds.
| 
Printer view
back to top
