Proclaimer Blog
Quote unquote
As a rule, I think pastors shouldn't use quotes in their sermons. There are a number of reasons for this:
- quotes tend to come from written material rather than spoken material and, generally speaking, there is a difference. What might make sense to you written down in your notes will be much harder to digest when you're just listening to it read through. Sentences tend to be longer and more complex when they're written down
- some people quote as a kind of underhand way of impressing the congregation. "As Augustine said…." If, honestly, that's your motivation, then don't do it!
- to put it bluntly, people have not come to hear what Don Carson thinks of the knotty problem. They want you, Mr Preacher, to explain it to them and apply it to their lives. If they wanted the Don, they could have stayed at home and listened to Radio 4 (see here!)
- quotes can work as illustrations – for example, hearing the account of an early martyr when he is faced with death. Better still, I think, to tell the story yourself
No, quotes are best left at home. But every now and then, I do break my own rules. I did this last Sunday preaching Romans 3 and answering the objection that many people have – "I'm just not a bad person." This is a simple quote, easy to follow with a nice turn of phrase. As such, it answers some of the objections above. It comes from Bishop Moule, the 19th Century Anglican Bishop of Durham and co-founder of Keswick:
[yes] the prostitute, the liar and the murderer are short of [God's glory]; but so are you. Perhaps they stand at the bottom of the mine; and you stand on the crest of the Alps, but you are as little able to touch the stars as they.