Clayton Howard Ford

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:13-16).

Jesus illustrated his message by referring to everyday items or items which the audience could see. He used illustrations often in his messages. Later in the Sermon he will tell the multitudes to look at the birds of the air (Matt. 6:26). Since they were outside, the audience could literally look at the birds. He also told them to consider the lilies of the field (Matt. 6:28) and since they were on a mountainside, they could literally see the lilies.

Illustrations help the audience to understand the message because they connect what the audience may not understand to something they do understand. Illustrations also place a picture in the minds of the audience, which makes it easier to remember the message.

Educational psychologists also tell us that the more senses that are involved in the learning process, the more likely the student will remember the lesson. For example, your audience may remember the meaning of a word by simply listening to you say what the meaning is. But they are far more likely to remember it if they hear you and also see it on a screen or on a handout. Teaching automatically involves the sense of hearing, but whenever possible also involve the senses of sight, touch, taste, and smell. And also involve the audience’s imagination. The more involved the audience is in the teaching, the more likely they are to remember it.

“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:11-12).

In v. 11, Jesus abruptly breaks the repetitive structure he had been using. He had been using the structure, “Blessed are…, for they (or theirs)….” Here he breaks that structure. His statements so far had also been short, but now his statement is much longer. He changed the structure and the length of his statement to emphasize his point. The abrupt changes made this statement stand out and so made it easier for the audience to get it and remember it.

Sometimes you may want to emphasize certain points in your teaching, the important points, the ones that you want your audience to particularly remember. You can emphasize your points by using auditory and visual tricks. If you have been using repetition, break the pattern. If you have been using short sentences, use a long one. If you have been using long sentences, use a short one. If you have been speaking softly, speak louder. If you have been speaking calmly, speak intensely. If you have been standing still or standing behind a pulpit, move or step out from behind the pulpit. The more tricks you combine, the greater the emphasis will be in the minds of your audience. The auditory and visual cues will tell your audience that what you are saying is important and will help them to remember the point.

Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with what we call the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-10). Notice how each Beatitude follows the same structure: “Blessed are…, for they (or theirs)….” Using a structure repetitively helps the listener to remember the message.

Repetition is essential to teaching because most people do not usually retain in their long term memory what they hear the first time they hear it. The more often they hear it, the more likely they are to retain it, which means that as a teacher you should teach on important subjects more than once. However, too much repetition within the same message gets boring and even distracting. This is why Jesus did not use the same structure throughout the Sermon.

Repeating the same structure is one way to help the listener to remember the message. In succeeding “Tips,” I will show you some other ways to repeat information without boring your audience.

“Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled’” (Matt. 5:3-6).

The multitudes lived a hard life, often filled with disappointment. Perhaps they had little or no hope of ever living a better life. Jesus knew this, so he started his message with words that told the audience he knew how they felt and what they were enduring and with words that gave them hope. Because of these words, the audience could identify with him and his message, which made them more receptive to the rest of his message.

Begin your message with something with which the audience can identify, or which the audience already knows, or with which the audience can agree. Then transition into the rest of your message. Paul did this in his speech at Athens (Acts 17:22-31). He began with something that was already familiar to his audience, the altar which was dedicated to the unknown god. He then transitioned into his message by telling them he knew who this unknown god was.

Generally, you do not begin with something new or something controversial (unless there is a good reason for doing so or the Holy Spirit leads you to do so). You may lose your audience right from the beginning.

“Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to him” (Matt. 4:25-5:1). When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, he took into account his audience. His disciples were seated at his feet, but he started the Sermon because he saw the multitudes, so the Sermon was intended for both his disciples and the multitudes, which consisted primarily of Jews, but may have also included Gentiles from Galilee and Decapolis and beyond the Jordan. His Sermon, therefore, dealt with not only the Law, but also with everyday issues and relationships.

Take your intended audience into account as you prepare your teaching, and adjust accordingly when you see who your actual audience is. How old are they? How much Biblical knowledge do they have? Define big words. Some in your audience may know what they mean, but some may not.

Even if you are the type who must write out every word of his or her teaching, don’t read to your audience: talk to them. Use eye contact. Look at your audience, but not just one part of it. Look at one part, then another, then another. Eye contact tells your audience that you are there for their sake and not there just to rattle off a bunch of facts. Eye contact, therefore, engages your audience and helps them to keep their interest.

Watch your time. In the ancient Near East, an audience could stand and listen to a teacher for hours. In our culture, adults get impatient and lose interest if the teaching goes longer than 45 minutes. The attention span of teenagers and certainly children is even less. If you have a lot of material to cover in your teaching, you may have to present it over two or more sessions. Remember, your goal is to help your audience to get and remember your message. But if they stop paying attention, they will not get it.

“And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matt. 7:28-29). When the scribes taught the law, they would not teach on their own authority but instead would refer to the rabbis as their authority. They would say, “According to Rabbi So-and-so, this law means…. But according to Rabbi What’s-his-name, it means this….” When Jesus taught, he did not rely on the authority of other rabbis. He taught as if he knew what the Word meant. And that is how we are to teach as well.

Mark tells us that when Jesus taught at the synagogue in Capernaum (Mark 1:21-28), “they [the people] were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Jesus then cast an unclean spirit out of a man. “Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” Notice that the people thought that Jesus’ ability to cast out a demon was part of the new doctrine (teaching) that Jesus taught. The authority with which Jesus taught included the authority to cast out a demon, which changed that man’s life. And that is the goal of our teaching as well. We want to teach with authority so that our teaching can change the lives of our listeners.

I have occasionally quoted other teachers in my teaching because they said something better than I could say it. And you may find yourself doing the same thing. But don’t rely on other teachers as your authority. As you study the Scriptures, be guided by the Holy Spirit, not by other teachers, into finding the truth. The Holy Spirit and the Word are infallible; other teachers are not. They could be wrong. For that matter, you could be wrong. But when you teach, teach as if you believe what you are teaching is the truth. If you do not believe it is the truth, why are you teaching it?

I have learned that the Christian life is a balancing act, trying to find the middle ground between two extremes. Do not teach on something until you are convinced that you are 100% correct on what you believe. Then teach it with authority. At the same time, be humble enough to know that you could be wrong and are open to correction.

In this series of blogs, I will be going through the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 4:25-7:29) to show how Jesus used different teaching techniques to help his audience get and remember his message. By using these techniques in your teaching, you too can help your audience get and remember your message.

“And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain…” (Matt. 5:1). Jesus did this so that his voice would carry farther. In other words, he wanted to make sure that everyone heard his message.

In your teaching, you must remember that it is all about the message, not the messenger. The point is not to draw the audience’s attention to yourself but to your message. The purpose of everything you do (where you stand, how you stand, the gestures you use, your tone of voice) should be to get the message to your audience. Avoid doing or saying anything that distracts your audience from your message, such as playing with the keys in your pocket, which I subconsciously used to do until my son pointed it out to me.

Of course, your audience will not get your message if you don’t know what it is. Know your message. What is the main point that you are trying to communicate to them? Gear everything in your teaching to getting that point across. Anything else is a distraction.

I once had a pastor who would “wing it” when he taught. He would start off with his intended subject, A, but his mind moved so fast that something he said would remind him of something else which would remind him of another thing and before you knew it, he had touched upon subject H and every subject in between, without completing his thought on any one of them. If you were to ask people what he had said, quite often they would say, “I don’t know!” He finally disciplined himself by outlining his teaching and putting the outline on an overhead for all of us to see.

Know your message. Stick to it. Don’t confuse your audience by going down rabbit trails.