Preaching with imagination

This article from GCI pastor George Hart supplements the current issue of Equipper on preaching.

No doubt many of us remember the Add Color speech from Spokesman Club. Its purpose was “to draw a word picture so clearly and colorfully that a few well-chosen phrases will engrave your key thought on the minds of your listeners. Make your subject live.”

Warren Wiersbe addresses this need in Preaching and Teaching with Imagination. When we hear the word “imagination” our thoughts may run toward the imaginary or fanciful—something that is unreal. However, that is not what Wiersbe advocates. His point is that preachers and teachers should use language that helps their listeners see (imagine) what the speaker is saying—making it come to life. For an example, read Psalm 23 where the writer uses imagery to help us see what he is saying.

Another example is found in 2 Samuel 17. There two people used two different approaches in trying to influence Absalom’s decision about his father David, who had escaped into the wilderness. Read the accounts in 2 Samuel 17:1-3 and 2 Samuel 17:7-13 and note the different approaches. The second, which incorporates the use of imagination, influenced Absalom to go against his trusted counselor, take the advice of David’s ally and spare David’s life.

C.S. Lewis said it well: “For me, reason is the natural organ of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning. Imagination, producing new metaphors or revivifying old, is not the cause of truth, but its condition.”