There is a desperate need for clear communication in the pulpit.

“In a survey involving 2,500 people at multiple churches, less than 15 minutes after a sermon, 72% of the people leaving a speech or sermon had no idea what was communicated.” — Ken Davis, Dynamic Communicators Workshop

That statistic is startling. Nearly three-fourths of the people leaving a church service couldn’t clearly identify what had just been communicated.

A Personal Wake-Up Call

I remember how I felt when I first heard that statistic. At the time, I was teaching a young marrieds class. The next Sunday, I planted someone at the exit door and asked him to question people as they left: “What was the lesson about today?”

Thankfully, more than 25% gave a good response — but I learned something important:

I needed to do better.

The next statistic we were given helped explain the problem:

“In the same survey, 50% of the speakers could not articulate, in a simple sentence, the objective of their message or lesson.” — Ken Davis, Dynamic Communicators Workshop

There’s an important connection between those two statistics. If the speaker can’t clearly state what the message is about, how can we expect the listeners to do it?

Enter the Objective Sentence

In homiletics classes, different terms are used for this single, clear sentence: purpose statement, thesis statement, proposition, or big idea. For this blog, I’ll call it the objective sentence.

An objective sentence forces the speaker to narrow the sermon or lesson to a specific, achievable outcome. It answers two important questions:

  • Where do I want my audience to go?
  • How am I going to help them get there?

Think of it as a destination and a map.

An Example

We can eliminate burnout by making four decisions.

  • The destination is clear: eliminate burnout.
  • The map is also clear: four decisions we must make.

Now the preacher knows where he’s going, and the audience knows where he’s being taken. Every major point in the message should move listeners toward that destination.

This is where clarity begins.

Why It Matters

A preacher may have excellent illustrations, interesting stories, solid biblical information, and even a polished delivery. But if the congregation can’t determine where the message is going, much of what’s been said will quickly be forgotten.

On the other hand, when a speaker clearly and passionately states the desired outcome of a sermon or lesson — and then provides a memorable map for getting there — the audience has something they can understand, follow, and remember.

An Old Problem

The problem of unclear preaching is certainly not new. In the 1800s, Charles Haddon Spurgeon humorously warned ministers about ineffective communication:

“Whatever you may know, you cannot be truly efficient ministers if you are not ‘apt to teach.’ You know ministers who have mistaken their calling, and evidently have no gifts for it; make sure that none think the same of you. There are brethren in the ministry whose speech is intolerable: either they rouse you to wrath, or else they send you to sleep. No sleeping aid can ever equal some discourses in sleep-giving properties; no human being, unless gifted with infinite patience, could long endure to listen to them, and nature does well to give the victim deliverance through sleep. I heard one say the other day that a certain preacher had no more gifts for the ministry than an oyster, and in my own judgment, this was a slander on the oyster, for that worthy oyster shows great discretion in his openings, and knows when to close. If some men were sentenced to hear their own sermons, it would be a righteous judgement upon them, and they would soon cry out with Cain, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear.’ Let us not fall under the same condemnation.”

Spurgeon’s humor makes a serious point. Preachers have a responsibility not merely to say something, but to communicate something.

Before You Preach Again

Ask yourself:

Can I state in one clear sentence exactly what I want my listeners to understand or do?

If you can’t, your audience probably won’t be able to either.