Yesterday I got into an intersting email discussion with some colleagues about the attention span of a congregation, specifically a Pentecostal/Charismatic one. In 2009, former Presidential Advisor David Gergen was inteviewed by Bill Hybels at Willow Creek's Leadership Summit and stated that the most effective speeches were 15-20 minutes in length. He further stated that if a speaker goes beyond the 30-35 minute mark, 75% of the listeners have checked out. When it comes to preaching, does the same principle apply?
Pentecostal Preachers in general tend to go well beyond the 35 minute mark. If Gergen's assessment is true, the question we have to ask ourselves is this: "Do our congregations check out after 35 minutes or do they suffer from Pentecostal ADHD and need Holy Spirit ridilin to get through our oratories? After 20 years of this, I think it's the former.
Here's my take on why we preach too long: Preachers fear not having enough material when the reality is we tend to pack too much into a single message. I'm guilty of this and I have preached in series ever since my wife told me several years ago after a Sunday morning, "That was a great series you preached today."
I was trained to believe that preparation was key (and it is). Further, the more prepared you were the less likely a congregation would be able to sniff out an unprepared message. But I believe in our quest to be good preachers we have failed to become good communicators of truth. In our passion to move an audience emotionally we have at times lacked the communication skill to motivate them to practical action. If a message leaves a listener feeling good at noon Sunday and marveling about how great the message was but it doesn't translate to practical action at 8:00 AM Monday morning, we have not done our job. When I listen back to my own podcasts (something we should always do) I always pick out 10 minutes of fat I could have easily trimmed and the message would have been just as effective.
Old habits die hard but I am up to the challenge to make sure I effectively communicate truth.
What do you say?
You have hit the nail on the head. I think you need to be a good communicator of TRUTH. I have listened to sermons that were twenty minutes long and sermons that went well over an hour that were both amazing. They were not amazing because of what was said or how eloquently spoken the preacher was, they were amazing because they sparked change in my life. It doesn't matter how long (or short) the sermon is, it's getting to the listener's heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, and having lives turned toward repentance.
ReplyDeleteI say...
ReplyDeleteTell me and I forget
Show me and I remember
Involve me and I understand
I've heard the former and latter. Left hemisphere and right. I wouldn't say short and Sweet is always the best but material for 40 cut to 20 and add comic relief =35. One of the first Sermon of late 2009- early 2010 everything was on and we continued 45.. just saying..others everyone got the main points and where it was going in 10min. part want detailed note taking message. Others desire less detail and broad brush.@Julie is spot on. Aligning to what word based HS saying, come from without time into time
ReplyDeleteI think it depends greatly on what's being said. I've yet to listen to an audio book that's only 15-20 minutes in length. Audio books are several hours in length, yet I stay interested.
ReplyDeleteAudiences will tune out quickly if they're hearing something they already know, or if they're hearing something they care little about.
They'll hang on longer if it's new info they realize they need, or if it tugs on their emotions (funny or sad), or if there's some sort of unresolved drama involved (which is the case with fictional audiobooks).
I agree with Julie. If the listener is hungry to know more about God and the speaker is flowing in the anointing, time flies. Also I believe some preachers are self appointed and some are called. You can be called and not an eloquent speaker and yet the Holy Spirit captures the congregations hearts through you. An eloquent speaker without the Holy Spirit can deliver a good teaching but it doesn't mean transformation will come. If you can combine eloquency and Holy Spirit that is a recipe for transformation. Preachers most the time are worried about the meat of the message and not the Presence of God. If you get a Preacher seeking God, who was birthed that into his people, and they are after God, explosions hit and lives are transformed. This may take time (God isn't afraid of time) to bring everything together. Go after God with great Passion, and instill this into the believers and God will show up. In fact I believe He is their and we say we can feel His Presence and granted we can, but we could feel His power if we would go deeper. God is ready to impower us more than we are ready to receive. He is looking for a place to invade. The problem is when He starts to invade the place is looks messy at times, because you still have the element of humanity. I don't think God is as concerned as us, because He loves a hungry heart.
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