Suspense
January 1, 2002
Many preachers are taught a well-organized sermon requires a clear preview and review. Tell the audience what you will say, say it, and then tell them what you said. Hogwash. I can't think of a more tedious way to communicate the Good News than to sap it of all intrigue. Movies, novels, stories, even jokes—every effective communication medium uses suspense as part of its appeal. Every one, that is, except the sermon. In an effort to be clear and concise, many sermon writers have jettisoned the element of suspense, leaving their outlines with all the wonder of a dishwasher instruction manual. Suspense keeps listeners involved. Who walks away from a joke half-told? Anticipa-tion of the punch line grips the listeners. Yet people routinely tune out in the middle of sermons. Why? There's no suspense. Master storytellers can speak much longer than a preacher, yet maintain the rapt attention of their audience. Garrison Keillor, for example, knows how to keep the audience hooked by "letting out" his story one incident at a time. He doesn't announce what a story will be about, who will be involved, or how it will end. You don't need to be as gifted as Garrison Keillor to make good use of suspense in preaching. Suspense is simply the withholding of information followed by its strategic release. As the word implies, it's a "suspending" of the communication process. Incorporating a variety of tension and release moments involves the listeners, intellectually and emotionally, throughout the message. We can learn the art of suspense from storytellers, but be warned: their lessons may contradict what the experts taught you. Don't say too much
Preachers often structure their sermons like an academic lecture—three bullet-points and an illustration ...
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