I recently read this book:
Andy Stanley and Lane Jones. Communicating for a Change. Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2006.
It’s filled with insights about public speaking in general, so it’s worth reading even if you deeply disagree with it at points along the way.
The book compares preachers to performers. In one sense there’s something to that since both preachers and performers—whether stand-up comedians or actors on a stage—must engage their audience. And to their credit, the authors qualify that “acting and preaching are a bit different” (p. 134).
But this is a good example of how a controlling metaphor can slant an argument. Why not choose the metaphor of a herald (κῆρυξ)? After all, the New Testament itself uses that metaphor in 1 Tim 2:7 and 2 Tim 1:11 (not to mention the 61 occurrences of the main verb for preaching: κηρύσσω).
I read this book a couple of years ago. I found to my surprise that when you have been organizing and preaching your messages a certain way for twenty-five years that it can be very difficult to change. I did not realize that my method had become so ingrained. Nevertheless, I can certainly see the value in what Stanley is sharing here, and I have tried to make the shift.
One aspect of this book really irritates me though. The whole first section is a kind of tale about how a preacher learns to preach from a truck driver. I am not saying that preachers know everything there is to know about preaching and there is no room for improvement. On the contrary, that is why I read books like this—to improve. I just wish Stanley would have used a different literary device to communicate this need. How many truck drivers learn their craft from a preacher?
The second part of the book is excellent. I wound up using it to make a template from which I can build my messages. It works great when I faithfully use it. I still find it easy to revert to my old method especially when I am in a hurry.