The Need for Unfinished Sermons

Some believe that sermons are dying. People contend that no one will ever sit and listen to anyone talk for more than 20 minutes without dying from boredom. Others contend that we have no attention span and need sound bites not lengthy lectures.

But what if it’s not the length of the sermon, or even our shortening attention span? Everyday in our country hundreds of thousands of people see movies at the theater. Most of these films are anywhere from one to three hours, and the moviegoers pay attention nearly the entire time. For the most part those people watch two kinds of films.

The first is the kind where by the end of the first scene you know the way it was going to end. Films like this rarely generate good conversation. Typically all that anyone can say is, “I like it” or “It wasn’t that good” or “My favorite part was …” That’s it. The storyteller has left little to the imagination because he finished the story for you.

Then there are films where you have no idea how it is going to end, and even when the film is over the story isn’t. It brought you into new territory and opened new possibilities that must be explored and (re)discovered. For days and weeks you discuss it, critique it, and think about it.

This is what good stories do – they do not provide answers for us, but invite us on a journey of discovery. This is also what good sermons do. They don’t answer all your questions, but send you in a direction to find out more. As we search we often stumble upon a new world .

By contrast, have you ever sat and listened to a sermon only to realize that you’ve heard this all before? You know exactly how it’s going to resolve and what points of application the pastor will give at the end. This is why so many churchgoers can’t pay attention. It’s hard to focus on something that is familiar, and even harder when it’s predictable.

These kind of sermons rarely generate good conversation. The listeners are left to speak in terms of whether or not it was “good” or if they “liked it.” They are not invited anywhere, because everything is complete; the story has been told for them. Sermons like these are dying and it has nothing to do with attention span.

Those who preach must leave things unfinished; allowing the teaching to bring others into new places. For it is not what happens during the teaching, but what others do with it after they have heard it that will make all the difference.