Preaching That Connects
Craig Brian Larson
July 1, 1997
Sermon illustrations, like babies, come in two types.
Figurative illustrations are comparisons: metaphors, similes, analogies. To illustrate anger figuratively, I might compare it to gunpowder.
Literal illustrations are examples: To illustrate anger literally, I might tell about when I lost my temper and broke a glass.
Before this powerful pair took on meaning for me, I would ask, How can I illustrate this point? Now I ask both How can I illustrate this literally? and How can I illustrate this figuratively? I then select the best to suit my purposes.
Here are some advantages of the figurative illustration:
1. Insight. Comparisons bridge from what listeners know to what they don't know. Comparisons penetrate the essential nature of something; what listeners have personally experienced, they understand at a level that transcends words.
2. Association. If I illustrate from the game of basketball, I touch listeners' memories, attitudes, and emotions associated with the game. The mind of a listener is not a clean slate. I purposely use figurative illustrations with favorable or unfavorable associations in mind.
Like the smells of baby powder on infant skin, associations waft from figurative illustrations; my task is to ensure they match and serve truth. An adverse metaphor, such as likening moral authority to an assault rifle, is untrue in its effect because it stirs revulsion rather than receptiveness.
3. Indirection. Indirection breaks down listeners' sophisticated defenses against the truth. Like a stealth fighter, an analogy carries its payload into a person's heart unawares. Jesus used metaphor for this purpose.
4. Imagination. Imagery energizes communication—in politics, marketing, and Bible prophecy.
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