In our seminary, expository narrative preaching is emphasized quite a bit.
Where traditional sermons have multiple points that are supported in a variety of ways, in narrative preaching the stories and metaphors are the points. The key is that with any good ‘story’ tension is created and held for impact until nearly the end of the sermon.
I’ve been thinking about this ‘methodology’ and I think it can be taken a step further.
There is… umm… a sexual art-form known as tantric (I had to look it up to verify) that is known to be a spiritual encounter involving a prolonged engagement where tension is held to the end, but there may also be ‘releases’ throughout the experience as well.
I think this form of preaching might be more helpful in our culture of short attention spans while weaving a captivating story till the grand finale… Tantric Preaching. You heard it here first.
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until now, i’ve never wanted to be a preacher. but i have to say, lon, you have found a way to make it sound much more appealing!
Amazing Lon.
As a half related note…
MensGroup will be talking about something called “narrative theology” in a bit as well, where theology (as it was most common) was derived out of the stories told by the biblical authors instead of the more common (yet easier to be misinterpreted) point form verses derivation.
I wonder how that can be used alongside with tantric preaching
thanks for the comments guys.
Albert… dare i go as far as saying God is a tantric preacher? no matter what culture or background you’re from stories connect at the deepest levels. that’s why god didn’t give us a textbook full of points or answers, he gives us stories, journals, letters with characters and plot. throughout human history, there’s tension and release as we screw up yet God gives us glimpses of hope culminating in the restoration of all things… now that’s tantric if you ask me.
Get out of here. I saw that title and I started rolling.
Hopefully this will make some sense but it takes two to tantric (not sure how to type that) Traditional preaching and doctrine has had little interaction. There is a difference between talking at people and talking with people. Teaching and sharing could also be seen as two different things. So how much of this story telling narative theology has to do with engaging with another?
Glad you liked it Marty, good thoughts. I still haven’t worked out all the nuances between teaching, preaching, proclaiming, sharing, etc. I assume there’s a need for all of it, key being that we all do something about connecting deeply with people…
maybe the narrative part is where we show others how their unique story is already a part of the grander story and how they’ve been engaging all of their lives, if even at a distance…
Hey Lon,
LUV the idea. I think I’ll have to it
.
btw, are you going to take preaching to postmoderns?
Hey Yu… nope. Just two courses next term to wrap up for me – Urban Ministry II and Teaching to Learn&Teaching to learn. Will you be in that one? I’d love to hear how that one is different from advanced preaching.
Yupz, I’m taking pomo preaching. Will let you know how it goes.
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