How Can Pastors Speak to a Younger Audience in Preaching?

by

How can pastors more effectively speak to younger adults through preaching? I asked myself this question after reading an online conversation early Saturday morning. I happened to find a series of tweets from Carol Howard Merritt:

@CarolHoward: Using a John Hughes sermon illustration. Almost cut it our because half of the congregation wouldn’t relate.

@CarolHoward: Made me realize how much I cut out Gen X references. Meanwhile I almost feel like I was alive in the 60s, I’ve heard so much about it…

@CarolHoward: Made me realize how much I cut out Gen X references. Meanwhile I almost feel like I was alive in the 60s, I’ve heard so much about it…

When it comes to sermon illustrations, you use what speaks most clearly to your audience. And if the average age on a Sunday morning at most churches is any indication, then there’s a good chance references from the culture of younger generations will not speak to a majority of listeners. I’m a preacher born in 1982. And I admit that I’ve struggled at times with this dilemma because I know there’s a reference I could use to make a great point that could get lost with a good number of my listeners.

So how can we broaden our base of cultural references in preaching?

Now before I go on, I do want to offer a couple of caveats along with this post:

  • This is not about trying to be relevant (or any other buzz word we like to toss around in the church without truly knowing what it means). This post is simply an appeal to preachers to widen their base of cultural references if they find they tend to concentrate in particular eras of history.
  • This is difficult when the majority of your congregation is made up of one particular generation. I’m lucky in my current appointment that there’s a pretty good range of ages on any given Sunday. But I do know that’s not true for many preachers. I trust the preacher to use the information following in an appropriate contextual way.
  • Good sermon illustrations are more than just cultural references. I know this. My preaching professor in seminary is one of the finest preachers in the world. He taught me that. However this post is trying to call into question one type of illustration we can use.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about why it’s important to speak to my generation. There’s a great deal of talk in The United Methodist Church about reaching new generations. But if we’re committed to making young people a priority, then preachers need to become students of that generation.

I made a mass appeal for help with this blog post on Facebook. One of the most common responses was something like:

Don’t just throw references out trying to “be cool” or “relevant.” If pastors want to use references from a younger generation, then those references should come out of relationships with younger people.

Make no mistake, if you want younger people plugging into the life of your congregation, then you better be authentic. These sermon illustrations aren’t meant to be cheap appeals to younger adults in an attempt to seem “hip” or “cool” from the pulpit. They are, however, an attempt to be mindful that some of the people you’re ministering with (or hope to minister with) may not get every song reference or cultural nod to the 1960s and early-70s. If you want the gospel to come alive for them, learn more about them, strike up a relationship with them, and then remember to occasionally use references from “their world” to drive a point home in a sermon.

So without further adieu, here’s a working list of cultural references to begin your education:

Music

(This one is tough because the rise of the Internet has created a huge diversity in popular music. But here are a few artists and why they’re important for my generation)

  • Nirvana: This band marked the end of the 80s punk/hair band era many Gen-Xers fondly remember. They ushered in a new genre of music known as alternative/grunge. Besides than, the lyrics are pretty poetic.
  • Lilith Fair: For many women of my generation, this solidified the identity of the female artist. Keep in mind that this identity is also in tension to the hyper-sexualized image of many current female pop artists. But nonetheless, it was a powerful breakthrough for women in music.
  • Reality Show/YouTube Music Stars: Again, I admit this list was the toughest to compile because of the access to so much music due to downloading. But you should keep abreast of the fact that the hottest new artist in music could come from a reality TV show or a viral video on YouTube (granted the odds are they’re more likely to be a “one-hit wonder”). This is an avenue of being discovered that could seem foreign to folks from previous generations. But in the age of the Internet, this process of becoming a star can happen in a moment’s notice.

TV Shows

  • How I Met Your Mother: It’s quickly becoming an iconic show on what it means to be a 20/30-something in today’s world. The writers are brilliant and cleverly weave a great deal of contemporary culture into the plot lines.
  • The Cosby Show: This was the first sit-com on television that depicted an affluent African-American family. This was huge in shaping the worldview of those of us who grew up watching this show. Many of us never knew how taboo this was — it just became normal for us.
  • Reality TV: I know many of us wish this genre never came to be. But a well-timed writers’ strike in Hollywood gave enough time for this to become a new normal. Like it or not, you can’t understate the impact on how folks my age view this as impactful.
  • The Daily Show/The Colbert Report: In an age where cable news polarizes reporting based on partisan preferences, many young people have turned to master-satirists, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, to offer perspective on current events. The writing staffs for both shows are truly brilliant. In the case of Stewart, many contributors on his show have gone on to become some of the biggest names in comedic acting. Remember these shows are not the major source of news for young adults — they’re funny because they assume viewers already know the news and are looking for a different perspective.

Other noteworthy shows currently breaking barriers and/or shaping the genre of television:

  • The Office: One of the earliest breaks from the laugh track sit-com style. Brilliant and it trusted viewers to know the funny parts to laugh at
  • Modern Family: Another brilliant “laugh track free” show. It’s also a testimony to the complexity of family and the beauty of families who can function despite their defying the nuclear family image.
  • Any Show on HBO or Showtime: Shorter seasons and better writing largely due to a freedom from advertiser dollars influencing decisions
  • Parks and Recreation: Brilliant female lead to an ensemble cast.
  • 30 Rock: Another brilliant female lead to an ensemble cast.
  • Up All Night: We’ll see the longevity of this show but it’s become the hot new show for everyone new to having a baby. It’s a cultural marker for new parents and the beauty of DVR is we can watch whenever we want.

Movies

  • E.T.
  • Forrest Gump (ironic that it was set in an era “before our time” and is still such an influential movie)
  • Lord of the Rings Trilogy
  • Harry Potter
  • Most any Will Ferrell movie
  • Judd Apatow is writing iconic films at a similar clip to John Hughes
  • Trey Parker and Matt Stone: South Park and the Broadway hit The Book of Mormon — need I say more?

Important Historical Events

  • 9/11
  • Columbine School Shootings
  • The rise of the Internet
  • The rise of Social Media (led now by Facebook and Twitter)
  • The fall of the Berlin Wall
  • The election of Barack Obama as the first African-American President
  • Rising awareness of environmental issues

I got a lot of great feedback on other items as well. For example, many folks mentioned iconic sayings or catch phrases from various television, movie, music, and commercials. All of these things speak to formative pieces of culture that have shaped who we are. If you’re a preacher, then it’s vitally important to be familiar with these things — first for the sake of real relationship, and second in order to connect the gospel to the real lives of younger adults. If we’re serious about reaching out to younger adults in the church, then we better get serious about getting to know them. Otherwise I promise they’ll sniff out the manipulative tactics and do their dead-level best to never, ever grace the doors of our churches.

So why not begin in relationship and allow those relationships to connect in the life of the sermon? You might be surprised what happens when you broaden your base of references, build relationships with new people, and let the gospel speak in new and exciting ways…

Note: This is by no means an exhausted list. Please feel free to add to it in the comment box below!

The Rev. Ben Gosden is associate pastor of Mulberry St. United Methodist Church in Macon, GA (South Georgia Annual Conference).