If you have studied church growth, you recognize Gary McIntosh’s name. I was interested to hear his thoughts on the relationship between preaching and church growth. How important is preaching for church growth? What are sermons like in growing churches? What are things a preacher should consider to increase his effectiveness? Join me around a circular table in the Jr. High Sunday School room of Naperville, EFC for a stimulating conversation. Pastors today must be known as authentic; they must have believability. Their preaching posture must be that of a fellow struggler. Good pastors let their people know, within reason, they also lose their temper, they struggle at home just like everyone else. Transparency makes the communicator real. If it is done appropriately, it creates an intimacy that helps people realize the pastor is one of them. If Christ helps the pastor, he can help me. Pastors also need to be good storytellers. Our culture is not looking for linear logic but a narrative that captures their interest with conflict, climax and resolution. Stories are a legitimate way of preaching. Most of the Bible is stories and that is how God chose to reveal much of his character. I am not a homiletician, but I think it would be wise for pastors to have a story go with every major point in their message. If the story is memorable, it will help anchor the message, not replace it. Pastors also need to fit their audience. It is not wise to approach a congregation as a scholar and hope they understand what you say. A good pastor will work hard to communicate to the audience he has in a way they understand. The pastor needs to know the heart of his congregation. He needs to read what his people are reading, he needs to watch the television programs his congregation is watching (within reason), and he needs to attend the local sports events that the youth of the congregation are playing. The pastor needs to use every tool at his disposal to understand how the Bible relates to to his people Let me give you an example of the importance of understanding and connecting with an audience; take the example of Joel Olstein. While I am not supporting his theology, it is hard to argue he is not a good communicator. Why is he so effective? In my estimation, he is immensely popular because he tried to understand and connect with a deep wound in every one of us. It is the wound of hopelessness. This world is filled with tragedy, dashed dreams and unrealized desires. Joel’s messages are targeted to provide people with hope in a world filled with wounds. He understood this need in the American public, he connected with the need in his preaching and his church grew to be the largest in the country. What do you think would happen if we worked on better understanding and connecting with the needs in our congregation? As we ended the interview and headed for dinner, Gary’s reminder to connect with my audience was reverberating through the corridors of my mind. The theme of spending more time understanding the people, not just the Bible, has come up in most of my interviews. The congregation will bring people in, but 90% of the reason they stay is the pastor’s ability to connect the Bible to the people.
He has spent his life helping churches reach our culture with the gospel. One of the ways he helps many us is through his writing. He is the author of over a dozen books; I expect you have at least one of them on your shelf. Spending time with him at the Great Lakes District Conference was personally encouraging and intellectually stimulating.
