Sermon Sources and Content: The Preacher's Life

If you want to start a good argument about preaching, ask another preacher whether he or she thinks personal experiences are appropriate material for the sermon—then, take the opposing stance. Obviously, the life of the preacher impacts the sermon since preachers cannot shed their own skins before climbing into the pulpit. Barbara Brown Taylor explores this connection in The Preaching Life. We are embodied selves, and every aspect of preaching—from choice of material, to organization of the sermon, to the tilt of the head and twitch of the knees—is in one way or another filtered through self.

Preachers fill contemporary sermons with personal experiences. Some claim that such material establishes identification with the listeners, while others believe that personal experience, like the testimonial, is revelatory. Through personal experience the preacher conveys directly to the congregation how he or she has witnessed God.

The experiential events are as varied as life itself—from a trip to the grocery store to an exotic family vacation to a heated conflict in a committee meeting. All personal experience is potentially revelatory for those who open their eyes; therefore, many argue that such experience can be claimed for proclamation.

On the other hand, others assert that while personal experience is one way that we know God, such experiences should not be directly relayed from the pulpit because they shift focus from God to the preacher. David Buttrick sums up his opposition to the use of personal experience in the sermon this way: "All in all, we are a poor substitute for the Gospel."⁷ We can learn from personal experience, he says, but we shouldn’t focus upon it in the sermon.

The issue is tricky and as old as classical rhetoric. What part does the ethos, the character, of the speaker plays in the speech event? What marks appropriate and inappropriate use of self in preaching? What are the theological implications of referring to oneself (or one’s family, friends, or church members) in the pulpit while attempting to point toward Christ?

For those who want to pursue the concern, Andre Resner’s Preacher and Cross rewards careful reading. Resner claims that self-reference in preaching must be measured against the Pauline theological criteria of Jesus Christ as self-emptying. If the preacher’s personal experiences can point toward the wise folly of the cross, then it might be appropriate to include them in the sermon. Otherwise, they must be left out.

Preachers should commit to some theological criteria for gauging the use of personal experience in preaching. Without such criteria, personal experience in the sermon can become ego preening or a thinly veiled attempt at self-therapy in the pulpit. Here the preacher uses the congregation as a mirror to shore up the weak self or as a therapist for his or her own confused self.

There is no room for such misuse of the self in the pulpit. Theologically aware preachers will always ask, "Who is being lifted up when I refer to myself in this sermon? What is the best way to use this personal experience to point towards God, Jesus Christ, and the mission of the church in the world? Is it through direct reference to the personal experience, or is there another way?" For example, can the preacher alter the situation, come at the situation from another person’s point of view, or use the experience to enter imaginatively into an analogous story or character?

Those of us who are preachers may decide to judiciously employ personal experience in the sermon. If we do, we should heed Barbara Brown Taylor’s caution that Jesus "did not star in his own stories."⁸ As far as we know, Jesus does not say, "The other day when I was standing by the Sea of Galilee. . . ."

Two resources can be very helpful at this point. Tom Long lists several criteria for the use of personal illustrations in The Witness of Preaching, and Joseph Webb gives extended treatment to the use of personal stories in Comedy and Preaching. Preachers will find these guides instructive. Congregations will appreciate the effort.

David Buttrick, Homiletic: Moves and Structures (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987), 106.

8. Barbara Brown Taylor, When God Is Silent (Cambridge, MA: Cowley Publications, 1998), 114.