REVIEWED:
“Telling the Old, Old Story”
by David L. Larsen
“Resurrecting Hope”
by John Perkins with Jo Kadlecek
2 Fax Services for Pastors
3 New Audiotapes
“The NIV Application Commentary”
THE PREACHER AS STORYTELLER
Help with a lost art.
People crave stories, whether a Tom Clancy novel, an Annie Dillard piece, a buddy’s fishing story, or the latest scoop in “People magazine.” Surely this accounts for the dominance of narrative in the Bible–more than 50 percent, by conservative estimate. However, pre aching Bible stories is a little like playing the saxophone: it is easy to do poorly.
How can preachers expound “Noah and the Ark” so that listeners hear rain splatter against the ark and get drenched by the meaning of the story?
David L. Larsen, professor of pastoral theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, offers help in “Telling the Old, Old Story: The Art of Narrative Preaching” (Crossway, 320 pages, $14.99). But I caution: This is not a primer for handy reference but an exhaustive study requiring serious reflection.
CRUISING SPEED
I found the chapters on skills especially helpful. Larsen advocates letting the proportion and tone of the text shape the sermon. He says, “Don’t build a temple where the text has only built a tent.”
But if getting bogged down in too much detail presents one danger, skimming along with too much abstraction presents another. How can preachers find the right cruising altitude and speed?
Try using more dialogue. This means crafting questions in a “point/counterpoint” fashion to heighten the tension and highlight the issues in the story. This technique served me well in a recent sermon on 1 Samuel 20. I kept countering statements about Jonathan’s loyalty to David with questions about Jonathan’s seeming disloyalty to his father, King Saul. This helped to illuminate the underlying issue in the text: loyalty to God.
For longer stories, Larsen suggests beginning in the middle and employing flashbacks. For example, he began a sermon on the Book of Ruth with chapter 3 and summarized chapters 1 and 2 through flashbacks.
Chapters cover special kinds of narratives: parables, miracle stories, apocalyptic sections, and stories of Jesus’ birth, passion, and resurrection. In a helpful chapter on creativity, Larsen encourages preachers to expand their imaginations by reading poetry, listening to music, visiting art galleries, and reading short stories.
TUNNELING THROUGH
Although I was stimulated by the book, I expected more help on sermonic structure. Basically, Larsen suggests dividing the text into narrative blocks and weaving application into them. For example, a sermon on spiritual decision making from Numbers 13 and 14 was outlined:
I. A decision is required
II. A decision is rendered
III. A decision is regretted.
If there is “application” in each narrative block, why not formulate the main points as principles instead of points in an analytical outline? Larsen provided one example of principles from Zechariah 6, but the outline seemed rather pedantic:
I. God knows
(the surveillance of God)
II. God cares
(the responsiveness of God)
III. God acts
(the deliverance of God).
Furthermore, the author’s admitted “tendency to windiness and more elephantine style” in his preaching is reflected in his writing style.
But the book had too many redeeming qualities for me to put down. I like to learn from preacher-writers who employ fresh metaphors and vivid words, who read widely, and who stress a right relationship with God as a prerequisite for right preaching. Preachers who tunnel through this book will preach narratives more effectively.
–Steven D. Mathewson
Dry Creek Bible Church
Belgrade, Montana
SCHOOLED IN THE THREE RS
An interview with urban ministry pioneer John Perkins.
John Perkins is a spiritual entrepreneur. He founded Mendenhall Ministries in Mendenhall, Mississippi; Voice of Calvary Ministries in Jackson, Mississippi; Harambee Christian Family Center in Northwest Pasadena, California; and the Christian Community Development Association.
Perkins’s heartbeat is captured in the opening paragraph of “Resurrecting Hope” (Regal, 167 pages, $15.99): “[This book] is about congregations of Christians willing to love their neighbors so much that they are also willing to take responsibility for the economic, educational, and spiritual welfare of the families in their neighborhoods.”
Co-written with Jo Kadlecek, an editor with Urban Family magazine, Resurrecting Hope tells the hopeful stories of churches that have participated in what Perkins calls the “three Rs of Christian community development”: reconciliation, relocation, and redistribution. LEADERSHIP associate editor Dave Goetz asked Perkins how pastors can learn his three Rs.
LEADERSHIP: In “Resurrecting Hope” you write about the need for white and black pastors to build relationships. What must occur in the heart of a pastor for this to happen?
PERKINS: Even your question depicts part of the problem: We have limited the gospel to individual conversion. But individual conversion happens first as a part of the process; the relationship we establish with another person is the evidence of the gospel.
What we’ve been having within the American church is half of a conversion. What needs to happen to the pastor first is to begin to think biblically and theologically again.
LEADERSHIP: Why have we stopped thinking biblically and theologically?
PERKINS: Part of the problem is human technique. We say, “Let’s start out by imagining how many people in this community would feel comfortable with us.” That’s our theology. We think we don’t need the supernatural power of the gospel.
LEADERSHIP: How does Resurrecting Hope help us tap into that power?
PERKINS: The reason for the book was not to give a list of principles. It is a book of stories, a book of people struggling to make ministry in our cities happen. We wanted to engage people in the struggle to reach the city–not tell principles.
LEADERSHIP: How can a white congregation begin that struggle?
PERKINS: I recommend finding a needy area in the city, contacting a local pastor (or Habitat for Humanity or another organization), assembling a work crew, and working in that city church for a day or two. Set it up so the team works alongside people from the urban church. Out of that ought to come personal relationships. Pursue those relationships with the idea of learning from them.
When Jesus called the church to focus on the poor, he wasn’t asking us to be poor; he was asking us to be rich, to make our lives more complete, more total. That’s what happens when relationships are made with the poor.
JUST THE FAX, MA’AM
Two fax services offer express information for pastors.
In the old Dragnet TV series Sergeant Joe Friday packed not only a .38 revolver but his tongue. With it he cut to the chase while interrogating witnesses. No show was complete without Jack Webb’s monotone, “Just the facts, Ma’am, just the facts!”
Nineties’ pastors, too, want just the facts. Unread books, periodicals, and newspapers pile higher and higher. And now, nineties’ pastors can have just the fax.
The Pastor’s Weekly Briefing (52-week membership, $45 suggested donation, 719-531-3360) is a two-page newsletter edited by H.B. London, Jr., vice president of ministry outreach of Focus on the Family. Faxed every Thursday night, each issue includes a summary of current events that relate to traditional family values, an expanded feature on one of the headlines, and a column on legislation, by Gary Bauer of the Family Research Council. In addition, London writes a column to the pastor entitled “Good Morning, Colleague.” This casual, 200-word piece resembles an inter-office memo encouraging weary pulpit warriors.
Recent themes have dealt with Faith and Sexual Fulfillment, the Beijing Women’s Conference, and Public Libraries and Censorship. The Pastor’s Weekly Briefing flows well, but the limited space prevents sufficient depth for theme articles. I found myself wishing that London would spend more time addressing themes that relate specific-ally to ministers and their families instead of broad political issues.
Another parachurch organization offering a fax service is Leadership Network in Tyler, Texas. Leadership Network provides a consortium of consultants and resources for pastors of churches that have a weekend attendance of more than a thousand. Its single-page newsletter via fax, Net Fax (bi-weekly, no charge, 800-765-5323), is available to anyone interested. Net Fax aims to help church leaders identify organizational changes and cultural shifts to transition successfully into the twenty-first century.
Most of what is transmitted every other Monday is material abridged from Leadership Network conferences, periodicals, or taped presentations. Recent issues focused on strategic leadership, the top ten books leaders are reading, how to listen to the unchurched, and trends in children’s ministry.
–Greg Asimakoupoulos
Naperville Covenant Church
Naperville, Illinois
BOOKS YOU CAN PLAY
Three audiotapes to increase your effectiveness.
You’ve heard about these bestsellers for some time. Now they’re available on audiotape:
“First Things First” (Simon & Schuster; $12)
by Stephen R. Covey & A. Roger Merrill
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” (Simon & Schuster; $12)
by Stephen R. Covey
“The One Minute Manager” (Simon & Schuster; $11)
by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
Two-World Accuracy
A new commentary series gives help for better application.
Preachers exegete two worlds: ancient and modern. Most biblical commentaries help with the first; “The NIV Application Commentary” (Zondervan, $19.99 each, 43 volumes when completed) helps with both.
Three volumes have been released: 1 Corinthians, Galatians, and Philippians. Each commentary breaks down the discussion into three sections: Original Meaning (the exegetical phase of sermon preparation), Bridging Contexts (the translation phase), and Contemporary Significance (the application phase). For example, under Bridging Contexts in Philippians 1:1-11, Beeson Divinity School professor Frank Thielman gives the ancient definitions of slaves and saints and then contrasts them with modern perceptions of the words. This series will help pastors preach with modern relevance and biblical accuracy.
–Dave Goetz
Leadership
1996 Christianity Today/LEADERSHIP Journal
