While playing golf with friends several years ago, one of them said, “Tim, I really wish you would share a greater number of personal illustrations in your sermons.” While I don’t remember the exact words of my response, it was something to the effect of, “The reason I hesitate to do so is because I feel that if people learn and remember more about me than they do about Jesus, then I have failed as a preacher.” Nothing more was said about the subject at the time, but I later learned that my friend was quite unhappy with my answer. Not long afterward, he and his family left the congregation and he took the opportunity to express significant displeasure with my preaching as a whole and with my ministry in general. I still don’t know for sure if the “personal illustration” issue was a cause or just a symptom of his overall negative assessment of me, but I suspect it was the latter.
Since then, I have tried to be more open about sharing personal experiences and other “life stories” as illustrative material in my lessons, although I am still not entirely comfortable with the concept. There is a commonly held belief that without such transparency and self-revelation the church will not be able to relate to a minister and will perceive him as lacking credibility and authenticity. I will admit that when I do share these kinds of stories, it is relatively easy to elicit enthusiastic laughter from the congregation and a significant number of affirming comments after the service. But, is that the point? Is that the measure of effective Biblical preaching?
The current issue of Leadership contains a great article by Mark Galli entitled “Enough of Me Already!” Galli, who is senior managing editor of Christianity Today, offers great insights into this quandary that I have wrestled with over the years. I would encourage you to follow the link and read the entire article. As an enticement to do so, let me share a few quotes from Galli:
“The sermon has inadvertently become a showcase of the pastor’s life and faith. Less about the centrality and greatness of Jesus.”
“…to this day, years later, people will remark, ‘I still remember that sermon you preached where you told about putting your fist into the wall.’ They don’t remember Jesus. They remember me. They tell me how vulnerable I was to tell such a story on myself. They tell me how much they laughed. They never talk about grace.”
“Phillips Brooks once described preaching as ‘Truth through personality.’ Indeed. But with the flowering of the personal illustration, preaching often morphs into ‘the truth of my personality.'”
“This is one reason we’re so easily tempted to illustrate the gospel with our lives. In a therapeutic culture, we are anxious to connect with listeners in a personal way. The personal illustration is the easiest way to do that, especially if you can describe a personal flaw or mistake humorously.”
“Finally, we’re hooked on personal illustrations because our listeners adore them. They love a good story, especially if it’s a funny story about the pastor’s most embarrassing moment or about cute kids doing cute things in the pastor’s home. It makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy and connected. It’s so much more interesting than theology or the Bible! And it makes people like the pastor. Who doesn’t want to be liked?”
“It’s time to find other ways to illustrate sermons than me, me, and mine.”
Rather than calling for a complete cessation of the use of personal illustrations, he offers the following beneficial counsel: 1) Illustrate like Jesus; 2) Illustrate with the Bible; 3) Illustrate with discretion. Read the online article for Galli’s explanation of each.
As I reflected on Galli’s article and the conversation with my friend and brother several years ago, a phrase from an old familiar hymn came to mind: “less of self, and more of Thee.” While I will continue to share personal illustrations in future sermons, I want to do so with discretion and caution. I want to make sure that the message is “Christ, and Him crucified” rather than “Tim, and him humanized.” Less about me. More about Jesus.
Thinking Out Loud 
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February 15, 2010 at 10:05 pm
Tommy
Tim, from the ministers that I know, most would agree with you in that sermon time is a time to step out of God’s way to allow ourselves to be the vessel. I have not once heard anyone ask God for them to get in His way. 😉
February 16, 2010 at 7:42 am
Tim
You’re right, Tommy. Most of us would never be so bold as to actually pray that prayer. We sometimes ask for one thing (“God just move me out of the way and speak to Your people), then promptly step right back into the line of sight and focus. Thanks for the comment. Good to hear from you!
February 19, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Tim Pyles
Since I haven’t been able to add any posts to Thinking Out Loud this week, I thought I would just add a follow-up paragraph to “More About Jesus”; I just read this paragraph in another article that appears in the same issue of Leadership, this one entitled “Elemental Preaching” by Mark Labberton. He describes his search for “gravity” during what he calls “a very difficult season in my life”:
“Every week I did find centers of gravity, just not the sort I was looking for. I encountered preachers whose center of gravity appeared to be their own personality, gifts, hair, coolness, speech, body, education, spouse, or children. Their words pointed beyond themselves at times, but all the subliminal messages – their gestures, their attitude, their examples – seemed to point back to themselves as the center. You could come to God only through encountering and receiving the preacher; the medium became the message. This was truly “their” church. My impressions could have been wrong, of course. But I did not attend these churches very long.” – Mark Labberton