Reaching the Unchurched

In seminary I was taught that excellent preaching always started with the biblical text (preferably one chosen from among the four Lectionary texts assigned for a given week). I was to exegete the text, apply it to my hearers' lives, and then illustrate it. The process looks something like this:

Biblical text —› Exegesis —› Application —› Illustration

This is excellent biblical preaching. But it also assumes that your hearers are interested in what the Bible has to say and that it has authority for their lives. This is a fair assumption for Christians. But in our increasingly post-Christian culture, many people are not so interested in what the Bible says, nor are they convinced that it should carry any authority for their lives.

So at least some of our preaching must have a different starting point.

In half of my sermon series each year, we start not with the biblical text, but with the human condition. What are the issues, struggles, or questions people are wrestling with? We then "exegete" these issues, and then ask how the Bible addresses them. We apply the biblical text, explain it and how it addresses the issue. Then we illustrate. This kind of preaching looks something like this:

Human condition —› Exegesis —› Apply biblical teaching —› Illustrate

Here's an example from a recent sermon series I preached: The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris have been on the bestseller lists for months. On Christmas Eve at our candlelight services (when our congregation nearly triples in size, largely with unchurched people) we announced a series entitled "Conversations with an Atheist." We told the holiday attenders, "We will address the questions raised by Dawkins and Harris about the Bible, violence and religion, science and religion, and the problem of evil." Each sermon began with the problem and ended with the biblical solution. (Video is available at www.cor.org.) Worship attendance in the following weeks increased by more than 30 percent.

Today about half my sermons begin with the human condition, and the other half begin with the Scripture text. Our congregation has come to expect it.

And they contribute to the planning. Every summer before I go away for my sermon planning retreat, I send an e-mail to our entire church, inviting them to let me know what they are struggling with, questions about faith, questions their non-Christian friends are asking, and what they wish they could hear a sermon about. The response is tremendous; I receive decades' worth of sermon ideas! And the congregation enjoys being included in the process.

When sermons start where people live—their questions, struggles, and concerns—and then offer a timely and helpful word from the Scriptures, people are more interested in hearing what else the Scriptures have to say.

In that way, the one form of preaching leads to the other. I believe both are essential for creating healthy congregations that are serious about reaching non-religious people.

Adam Hamilton is senior pastor of United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, and author of Unleashing the Word (Abingdon).