Tell me a story: The case for narrative preaching
Sit still. Don’t even move a muscle. Not a twitch of a finger or a shift in your chair. Be as still as you can possibly be, like a child playing the statue game. Only your eyes shift as you watch the same people day after day walk past you. You don’t move. You can’t move. But there is a faint chance, a glimmer of hope. In front of you is a pool of water. A divine pool that people say heals if you can get in at just the right time. Day after day, year after year, decade after decade you wait, each day hoping that it’s your time. But it’s not. You see someone else jump into the pool.
A young man stands in front of you and asks “Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” [you reply], “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
Then Jesus [says] to [you], “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once [you are] cured;
(See John 5:6-9 NIV.)
There is power in the story. Did you act like a statue? How did you feel when Jesus said, “Get Up!”? Forty-three percent of the Bible is narrative, yet so many pastors preach exclusively in an expository style. Full disclosure: I love expository preaching. I love all kinds of preaching. What I struggle with is the push to elevate one form of preaching over all other forms.
The reality is that we are called to shepherd the whole flock, and the flock is not homogenous. One out of seven people are functionally illiterate. Sure, they can read a menu or peck through a few verses if they are pressed in a Bible study, but they do not process information in the same way as someone who is functionally literate.
It’s time for our churches to have a little story time. And I get it, if all you know how to do is outline a solid expository sermon, it can be hard.
Why narrative sermons are important
Stories connect our hearts to the Gospel. If we want our people to love God with all of their hearts, souls, minds and strength, then we have to preach sermons that engage our members at each of these levels. A good storyteller engages the heart and emotions of the listener with the truths of the Bible.
Stories are memorable. Research shows that people retain as much as 20 times more information if it is connected to a story. After preaching a full narrative sermon, I will check back with my congregation in a month. They recall more meaningful content from the story than they ever do from even my most in-depth and carefully crafted expository messages. For centuries all learning was storytelling. How did Moses know what to write in Genesis? Stories. How did Aesop teach morality? Stories. How did Jesus teach the crowds? Often in stories and parables.
Stories become personal. Your members will see themselves in the stories you tell. They will relate to biblical characters in all their flaws and strengths. They will listen to the journeys of fellow Christians and realize that they can put feet to their faith as well. When we see the perfection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, as He encounters the broken, prideful, despised, desperate and faithful, we see how He wants to encounter us.
Stories reach the unreached. I don’t mean you reach just the lost. This is the time to reach the young. Narrative preaching is a powerful way to reach creative and artistic believers. While nearly half of our audience members are auditory learners, the rest are visual and kinesthetic learners who will find a sermon that paints mental pictures or goes on a journey to be impactful and inspiring in new ways.
How to preach a narrative sermon
Narrative sermons are exegetical. The earliest criticisms I ever received preaching a narrative sermon was, “Nice story. Where’s the Bible?” You may be surprised to know I will spend two to three times as much effort on a narrative sermon than I would a traditional expository sermon. Why? First you must do all of the exegetical work you would do for a traditional sermon. Often I have to do more to learn about culture and civilizations that will make up the backdrop of the story. Then you have to craft a compelling plot with all the rising action, climax and falling action that not only tells a story, but educates, and challenges action. If at all possible I quote directly from Scripture, usually NLT because of its flow, and I do it in large segments. If your narrative is not steeped in the Bible, do not preach it from your pulpit.
Start small. If you are not ready for a full 25-minute narrative, make your introduction an immersive Bible story or a shorter children’s sermon. Your adults may learn more than your kids! These smaller stories will help you build a comfort for this type of message and give you much needed practice. Also you can help that part of your congregation that loves your expository sermons to see the meat of the story as you unpack its relevance throughout your message.
Try the low-hanging fruit. So you’re ready to go all in one Sunday with a full narrative sermon. My first came at a holiday. Everyone knows the Christmas story, and you telling it will be a nice change of pace. Do it in a robe with a shepherd’s crook. Have a cross or tomb that you kneel at when you get to the climax. Maybe sit on the back of a real camel. (But send me pictures if you do!) Find naturally compelling stories of David or Daniel. Nehemiah is written in first person and easy to adapt while being powerful in the message.
Internalize it. Lastly, take the time to craft your narrative sermon. You are a workman of God. Don’t present any sermon that you have not labored over, especially a narrative sermon. Write it out and then read it. Record yourself reading it and then listen to it during your morning walk or in the car. Learn it so that the story is yours in your heart and not just on paper. I preached the same narrative as part of a conference over 20 times until I knew every inch by heart. When the blind man received sight and fell on his knees to worship Jesus, I, too, was worshipping Jesus not simply quoting lines, and everyone knew with conviction that we have all been healed so we, too, should worship.
I would love it if every church would preach a sermon regularly that speaks to those who get news from Facebook, watch YouTube for entertainment or follow sports highlights on ESPN because that is how they learn. These people are passionate, creative, wise, active, seeking, busy, bold, faithful and thirsty for the Word. Let’s bring the Living Water to all of our flock and see how those wonderful people will flourish when they are nourished.
Philip Barnes is pastor of CenterPoint Community Church in Wethersfield, CT. He has been crafting narrative sermons for 25 years and loves to share that passion with others.