The Art of Clear Teaching and Preaching

Some people have the unfortunate gift of making simple things complicated. Others leave hard things sounding hard. But the art of the best teachers and preachers is to take complicated things and make them simple. Simple, but not simplistic. They don’t reduce truths of substance to something trite or superficial. Instead, they help you see much more clearly the true depth and beauty of truths that previously seemed obscure or inaccessible.

Such clear teaching and preaching usually seems effortless. The speaker makes it seem so obvious. But that is only because they have mastered skills that produce clarity and simplicity without losing profundity.

So, what are those skills? The eighteenth-century English bishop J. C. Ryle wrote what is, perhaps, the most outstanding article ever on simplicity in preaching (pp. 1145–1161). I’d be very happy for you to stop reading this article and just read his! But leveraging off what he says, as well as my own observations and experience, I want to suggest nine things to work on if you want to be clear in your Bible teaching and preaching (whether that is a sermon, a Bible talk, a devotion, a lesson for kids, or any other ministry of the word).

Be Very Clear on the Meaning of Your Text

Ryle says, “If you want to attain to simplicity in preaching, take care that you have a clear view of the subject on which you are going to preach.” That, he says, is the most important thing of all. If it is not clear to you, you’ll never make it clear to others.

Clarity has to begin in your own head. You need to have the text by the throat. You must be crystal clear on what it means and why it matters. After plenty of Bible reading and study, you should be able to distil exactly what it is about so you could summarise it in a couple of minutes to a child or hold forth for ten minutes to a ministry colleague. You won’t need your notes to do that because you will know exactly what this text is all about. Clarity starts there.

Make Your Whole Message About One Main Thing

Most texts contain many great truths, and you’ll probably deal with several of them in your message. But the message as a whole needs to drive home one main thing. Some preachers call this the sermon proposition, or thesis, or big idea. I like to simply call it the main message statement. In one sentence, what is the main message of your talk, lesson or sermon? Is that main message clear, interesting and useful?

Make the Structure of Your Message Clear

If you are talking for more than a few minutes, you will need some pegs to hang up your main ideas. Clear points help break the one main message down into bite-sized chunks. That makes it easier to chew and swallow. Personally, I don’t like to call my points “points” because the issue is not how many points my sermon has; the issue is how many good things there are to see in the text. So, I say things like, “There are three incredibly important things here for us to see, and the first is…”, or “Now I want to show you two wonderful truths in this text. First…”

Write for the Ear Not the Eye

Reading is very different to listening. When someone reads, they can look back at the immediate context, and they can see paragraphs, headings and maybe some bold print. They can use a highlighter or underline a key word. But they can’t do that when they are listening, so you have to do it for them. You have to have verbal underlines, bold print, and recaps.

A few things will help. First, use short sentences. Short sentences have more punch. They are far easier on the ear than long, complicated, multi-clausal sentences. Second, use repetition. You might repeat a key phrase or heading word for word, or you might say the same thing in different words to slow the message down and give people time to take it in. Third, use pauses. Your hearers can’t see a paragraph break or the space on the page before the start of the next chapter. So, create oral margins by pausing.

Use Everyday Language

If people need a dictionary to understand you, you have sacrificed clarity on the altar of learning. You may be capable of conversing with sophisticated vocabulary, but you will help people understand God’s word if you use clear, straightforward words that most people can easily understand. While we will want to introduce people to the Bible’s theological language, we don’t need to introduce them to many Latin phrases, Greek words, or obscure technical terms. Ryle says, very simply, “Try to use simple words in all your sermons.”

Sparingly Use Quotations, and Scholarly References and Discussion

An apt quote can be powerful. A striking statement by someone else may add spice to the message. But once you start to litter your sermon with quotations, references to other people, and discussion of the eight different views of the text, you cloud the message for your hearers. Your job is to study the text for yourself and be across what others have said, so that you can present the main message to your hearers in your own words.

Employ Plenty of Contemporary Illustrations and Word Pictures

Jesus turned to the culture and landscape around him to put truth into everyday images. Farmers, fishing, parties, weddings, vines, birds, and family life constantly feature as Jesus teaches. Stories, metaphors, similes and analogies are the clothes many of his ideas wear. Following his lead, we will increase clarity and accessibility if we frequently present biblical truths with familiar pictures.

Scan everyday life, rather than online professional illustrations or historical stories, to throw light on the truths you are talking about. “If you would attain simplicity in preaching,” says Ryle, “use plenty of anecdotes and illustrations.”

Be Concrete and Practical

It is hard for most people to follow multiple steps of an abstract argument. We will be clearer when we frequently turn abstract ideas into concrete realities. That means application is the best friend of clarity. When you apply what you are teaching, you press truth on this life, our world, people’s hearts. People start to see what it looks like in practice. So, for example, the providence of God is not just a great concept, but a beautiful truth that has an impact on how we handle the rain deluge that ruined the church picnic, the amazing opportunity we had to share our faith, or the confronting diagnosis our child just received. Get truth into life; people will thank you for being so clear.

Speak Warmly and Personally

Clear teaching and preaching is never divorced from who we are as a teacher or preacher. It is you speaking, so make sure it sounds like you, not someone else. Speak so your hearers sense that you care about them; that you care about what you are saying; that you are talking to them personally and not to the back wall; and that you are speaking as their pastor, as a friend, as a human, not as a walking theological encyclopedia.

Interestingly, the last six of these tips are the very opposite of the rules of good essay writing. What we learn at university or theological college might make us good scholars, but we need a different set of skills to be effective communicators. In fact, we may have to unlearn what college has driven into us.

It is worth working hard at being clear and simple, without being simplistic. It will take time and effort, and it might mean sacrificing your pride. But it is one of the best ways to love and serve the people God has given you to speak to. It is the best way to help them see how good God is and how rich his word is.

This article was originally published in RTC Monthly.