I’m almost certain that what I heard recently was a sermon that was written around an illustration. In other words, the speaker heard what he thought was a great story, so he built a sermon around it.
I admit that the illustration was a good one. It was powerful enough that I don’t want to let you know what it was; for fear that you too will be tempted to do what I think he did.
It took about six or seven minutes for him to tell this story, and the speaker opted to use it as his closing illustration. Unfortunately, it didn’t really fit the text he chose, and his earlier exposition of that passage had little to do with the point of the illustration.
About 20 minutes into the message I whispered to my wife, “What is it he’s trying to say?”
She responded quietly that she didn’t know.
A minute or two later the preacher got to his story and suddenly he was really animated. He told it well, made a quick application, and for the first time he really had the congregation hanging on his every word. My analysis was that his closing illustration worked, but his overall sermon didn’t!
Is it wrong to ever start your sermon preparation with a good story? Not really. But you still have to ask yourself questions like:
- What’s the subject of this illustration?
- What response does it call for?
- Is its point consistent with the teachings of Scripture?
- What specific text works well with this given illustration?
A good story can prove very helpful in a sermon. But, you never want it to end up being “the tail that wags the dog.” That’s what this one was. This tale was too strong a tail. And, I don’t think I was the only person in the congregation with these suspicions.
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