The Skill of Drawing Pictures for Great Preaching
The Skill of Drawing Pictures
In this post we are going to explore one of the most important skills for great preaching. The skill of drawing pictures is one of the most important skills that improves preaching from good to great. If you are new to this blog, the first in this series of posts is here.
Why Picture Language in Sermons?
People today are picture oriented. Phones bring pictures to awareness over and over during each day. are used to accessing their phones for hours each day. Television is on for hours each day. This means that the days of having a theological lecture are long past. I heard a sermon recently in which no picture language was used. It was difficult to keep listening. In the language of one of my mentors of years ago, you have to create some pegs for people to hold onto in your sermon. This is what McDill refers to as the skill of drawing pictures and telling stories. The ability to draw pictures for your people is major difference between great preachers and those who are less skilled. When people “see” the message as well as hear it, their appreciation and understanding will increase dramatically.
Why Draw Pictures?
When you draw pictures for your people you engage the imagination of your people, and that makes the point your are seeking to make far more memorable.
Examples of the Power of Pictures
McDill gives several examples of how pictures make a sermon more memorable. Here are some of them.
Abstract statement
God protects His people.
Picture
Like a shepherd standin
g between the wolves and his sheep, staff in hand, refusing to move.
The second statement creates a mental image, which listeners retain.
Abstract
People experience spiritual emptiness.
Concrete picture
A man sits at his kitchen table at midnight, staring into a cup of cold coffee, realizing that everything he chased in life still left him empty.
Concrete details make the truth visible and relatable.
Telling
The disciples were afraid in the storm.
Showing
The boat creaked and pitched violently as waves slapped the sides. Several disciples grabbed the rigging while water sloshed across the deck, and seasoned fishermen began shouting in panic.
The listener now feels the moment.
McDill also encourages pictures from ordinary life, because listeners recognize them immediately.
Example (on forgiveness):
Refusing to forgive is like carrying a backpack filled with rocks everywhere you go. Every offense adds another stone until you are exhausted by the weight.
Simple imagery often communicates deep truth quickly.
Steps for Developing Picture Language
- Identify the Abstract point that you want to make. For instance, if you want to make the point that God pursues those who refuse him, what would that look like?
- Imagine this as a movie. What would you see?
- A father waiting on a porch for his son to come home?
- A mother scanning a crowd for a lost child?
- A shepherd searching for a lost sheep?
- Choose a small moment, not a long drawn out explanation.
- For instance, a shepherd freeing a lost sheep from being caught in brambles.
- The joy as the father sees the son coming down the street.
- Add concrete details
- Sight
- Sound
- Movement
- Texture
- Keep it short
Conclusion
The skill of drawing pictures will make your sermons more memorable and more impactful. Practice it well.
Here’s another reflection on this idea from Frank Thomas.
