For you wordsmiths out there, Mark Batterson lists his five rules for writing. If you prepare sermons, most of these apply. Here’s a summary:
1. Start bright and early, well before your “official day” begins; for afternoons, grab a cat-nap.
2. Remember you’re on “holy ground” when writing. Your words could lead a reader to a “God encounter.”
3. Take days off between chapters to maintain perspective.
4. Hook your readers at the start of each chapter with a strong organizing metaphor.
5. Write for intrinsic reasons, “because you can’t not write.”
Good suggestions. Rule #2 struck me, especially since Batterson says he does this by taking off his shoes. I like the idea of using a physical discipline to focus a cerebral process like writing. It reminds me of C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, where the devil Screwtape comments on kneeling:
At the very least, [people] can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls.
I also appreciate that, for Batterson, the holiness of writing means that he bathes the process in prayer. Can’t argue with doing that.
However, I do wonder about the “holy ground” imagery. That sounds to me as if the writer or preacher has special access to God, a private viewing of the burning bush, which would be unbiblical and, well, a little arrogant. I don’t think that’s what Batterson means to say. His point is that God can use your words for His purposes, so be a good steward of them. Again, can’t argue. But the metaphor strikes me as misleading.
So if you’re a pastor, then what’s a better physical reminder to use in your preparation?
Do a hand-stand.
Why: The Fall turned everything upside-down.
Why not: Your sermons won’t crack five minutes, for better or (hopefully) for worse.
Hang a punching bag in your study.
Why: “I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:26b-27).
Why not: Those rumors about your anger issues are about to take off.
Wear an eye patch.
Why: “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matt. 7:5).
Why not: Your kids’ Pirates of the Caribbean lovefest finally died out last year. Don’t remind them.
Okay, I don’t have any better suggestions, so help me out. What do pastors need to remember when working on their sermons?
