notes
Rolling television news and the relentless tickertape of social media give modern man an appetite for the recent, the current and the downright odd. The preacher must somehow satisfy such urgent longing with a re-presentation of centuries-old stories, myths and teachings.
There are those who disparage the teaching of preaching, with its focus on communication-technique. The word of God should be allowed to speak for itself, they say. If that is the case, why do we not simply read aloud from the bible, omitting the sermon? What can the preacher add to holy writ itself?
An inventor could create things which interested him yet which didn't sell. His ideas could be brilliant, insightful and original, yet he could fail to make money from them. What is he doing wrong? He is focusing on the invention rather than on the need that can be satisfied. Similarly, a communicator (preacher or not) could find some very good things to say yet fail to achieve a useful objective; this might apply particularly if he or she has no objective. Having an objective isn't the same as knowing what you want to say. Characteristically, a communicator's objective will be framed in terms of others' reactions rather than the speaker's utterances.
Long reminds the preacher that he is among the listeners to the sermon. In the absence of feedback from the congregation, a preacher might usefully consult himself on how well he did. He might also usefully consider himself among his target-listeners, asking himself what change he wants wrought in himself by his own preaching.