Proclaimer Blog
Applying the truth
Two issues here: when in the sermon to apply, and how to do it.
- First, the when. Here is a gut-reaction I have when I’m listening to sermons: I am much more often grabbed hold of and feel that God’s word has got under my skin when the preacher has dropped in application regularly as he goes, rather than saving it all up for the end. And that’s true even though I am someone who happens to have had a fair amount of training and experience in listening to long lectures (everyone gets their kicks somehow). It is very tempting to save the application till the end: “I need to explain it all before I apply it”; “I want a big, practical finish”. But not many people can hold in their heads all the biblical content that we’re giving them for all those minutes, and then have it all freshly at the front of their minds when we finally come to set out the application. When I first started preaching I was especially impressed by one preacher whose introduction was usually a piece of his application brought forward. At the outset he convinced us that we needed help in a certain area, and then he brought us to Scripture to show us that here was the medicine we needed. Of course it’s good not to be predictably formulaic, but there is some wisdom in that. I might start doing it again more often.
- Second, the how. There are a million and one things that could be said, but here’s just one. Stories count for a great deal. I was reading recently about a department store that wanted to have the reputation for the best customer service. In their staff training they constantly re-told the true story of an employee who one day ironed a shirt for a customer who was heading off to a big meeting – and the shirt had been bought in a different store. That one story communicates an awful more about how the management want the employees to relate to customers than a whole series of bullet-point principles. So we’re back to the same point as the previous post on illustration. Specific stories of this biblical truth being put into action is better than a string of general exhortations.