We preach Christ crucified!

Good Friday seems as good a time as any to write about preaching on the Cross!

There is something about preaching on the death of Jesus that is quick to lead Preacher's to resort to platitudes and pontifications. Having been guilty of such short-cuts myself, I suspect that it is down to two factors: i) the size of the topic and ii) the frequency with which we refer to it.

I don't think we can really blame Preachers for preparing their Good Friday sermon and finding themselves thinking (even if subconsciously), "What more can I say? How can I say something about the Cross that will be powerful yet fresh?" I'd like to suggest that an interactive sermon may be just what the day calls for!

We Preach

To overcome the danger of monotony that accompanies one person preaching all of the time, why not include multiple voice? Some people have expressed fears that something so different would simply end up being distracting, but there's no need to be so different.

Unless you know the congregation well, it might not be advisable to jump straight from regular monologues to a big free-for-all. Understandably, such a step could end up being less than fruitful! However, there are degrees of interactivity and there's no reason why multiple voices cannot be introduced into the way that you normally do things. For example, instead of preaching a thirty minute monologue, why not ask three people to prepare a 10 minute talk?

This kind of limited interactivity achieves a number of goals:

1) It introduces the congregation to interactive preaching
2) It avoids being so different that it's distracting
3) It gives others a chance to speak
4) It can thereby bring fresh life to a topic that the congregation has only ever heard you speak on.
5) It will very likely bring fresh perspectives and approach things in a way that you might not have thought of.

Christ Crucified

Picking up on the last point, it strikes me that interactive preaching is the perfect tool for addressing a topic that is so grand and so frequently alluded to. What other topic, besides perhaps that nature and character of God, does Scripture discuss with such a variety of words, images, metaphors and narratives? So, let's express some of that through a variety of speakers, opinions, genders, ages and voices!

My suggestion for a Good Friday sermon - and it's an approach that can be easily applied to other subjects and occasions - is to ask three different people to teach on three different models of the atonement. You could introduce the teaching session with a brief explanation and maybe even do the same for each of the three slots.

Depending on whether it is judged appropriate or not, you might also want to invite questions and comments from the congregation. Alternatively, you could do the asking, or even follow each speaker by suggesting some pros and cons of each model. However, this would depend greatly on your model of church and ministry, as it could be seen as simply giving the official vote or veto.

In your introduction it could be helpful to explain that the three speakers are not arguing for their particular understanding. Instead, they are presenting one facet of the wider picture of the Bible's teaching on the atonement. Alternatively, you might want to provoke debate! I've been in some great meetings where the speakers were graciously discussing the topic and inviting comments, questions, clarifications and critiques from the congregation. However, this is probably best left for a setting where you can judge the reaction of all involved!

Practical Suggestion

Here's a template that you might to follow, or adapt, if you're considering preaching on the death of Jesus.

• Introduction and explanation (including discussing the Bible's teaching on the atonement as wide and varied and impossible to narrow down to one description/model)

• First speaker: Substitution (perhaps including why they personally find it a helpful approach)
• Invite comments from the congregation, maybe one that is critical and one that is positive (in that order)
• Maybe sum-up so far?
• Second speaker: Victory
• Invite comments from the congregation
• Sum-up
• Third speaker: Transforming Love ("moral influence")
• Invite comments from the congregation
• Sum-up
• Finishing remarks

It may seem disjointed to have so many interruptions from you, but it can actually add to the flow. For a congregation that isn't used to multi-voiced preaching, having you anchor the whole thing adds a sense of security and contains all of the contributions within the books-ends of your Introduction and Finishing remarks.

Of course, there are other ways to approach the Cross interactively, including the Communion meal, singing together, corporate prayer and a dozen other ways. My hope, however, has been that these brief thoughts might demonstrate that the Good Friday sermon is a particularly apt time to introduce interactive preaching.

Feel free to share your thoughts below, including offering your own templates.