For Storytelling Preachers and Those Who Appreciate Them

Austin Tucker ran into some guys at a prayer breakfast who didn’t care for their storytelling pastor. “He doesn’t preach the Bible enough,” said one. “I want preaching, not stories.”

Austin, ever the teacher, pointed out to them that in the ministry of Jesus, the one thing that stood out above everything else in his sermons was His use of parables. “Jesus was the quintessential storyteller.”

He says at least one of the men began to rethink the issue.

“The Preacher as Storyteller” is the title of Austin Tucker’s latest book. Several months ago, he sent an early draft this way for me to read. I was most impressed. It’s not necessary to have heard me preach to know how much I value a well-placed story in the sermon. Instead of just bragging on the practice and inserting some of his own tales–which is probably how I would have approached the subject–Austin really opens up the subject and deals with it from all sides.

Prediction here: seminaries are going to use this as a text, and the next generation of preachers is going to be greatly indebted to this dear brother.

Years ago, when Austin Tucker was a seminary student, he wrote the pre-eminent Bible teaching pastor of that generation, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones of London’s Westminster Chapel, asking for his opinion on sermon illustrations. “He responded graciously with a note about his ‘strong views on the subject.’ He reminded me that he had always been a critic of a man like W. E. Sangster, who used to carry a little notebook in his pocket to take down any stories he heard and who had a ‘card-index of illustrations appropriate to various subjects.’ Lloyd-Jones said, ‘I always described that as the prostitution of preaching!'”

Lloyd-Jones has company in his dislike for sermon illustrations and stories. John MacArthur is quoted as saying, “I am not into storytelling…. Stories tend to shut down the level of intensity that I prefer people to maintain.”

But on the other hand.


Plenty of great preachers know the value of a well-placed and well-told story. Ian MacPherson said, “If a sermon is too short to be illustrated, it is too short to be preached.” Max Lucado says a good story can work like a Trojan horse: “Truth can arrive a bit incognito within the story.”

Tucker’s book of 15 chapters covers everything from “The Seven Basic Plot Plans” (that was an education for this farm boy) to sections laden with great stories as used by effective preachers through the ages. Chapter 9, “Ten Ways to Sharpen Storytelling Skills,” is worth the price of the book. (Which incidentally is $24.99.) Look them over:

1. Summarize a short story.

2. Turn a cartoon or comic strip into a narrative.

3. Place a quotation in its historical context.

4. Glean from leisure reading and TV time.

5. Quote a verse of a hymn or other poetry in its narrative setting.

6. Use one of the elements of narrative to brighten exposition.

7. Try your hand at creating a parable, a fable, or an allegory.

8. Narrate in a few sentences your own thoughts on the passing parade of life.

9. Use your testimony or the testimony of others.

10. Recast a news story.

Betcha some of those are new thoughts to you, even if you’ve been pastoring all your life like Ronnie and me. Take that last one, for example.

You read a fascinating story in the paper and it grabs your imagination. There’s a great sermon there, you think. But you’d like to know more. These days, you can go on-line and learn just about everything you ever wanted to know on individuals and movements, cities and causes. Or, you might do what I’ve been known to do: pick up the phone and call the person in the story and say, “Could I ask you something about that?”

Then, when you put it in the sermon, you can tell the story the way it ought to be told, not the way the newspaper did by cramming everything into the lead paragraph.

Or take the second one, turning a cartoon or comic strip into a narrative.

Tucker describes a cartoon he found in Forbes magazine. This tycoon is sitting in a lush office explaining to a little girl, obviously his granddaughter, where he got his vast wealth. “It was really quite simple. I bought a pencil for a penny, sharpened it, and sold it for two cents. With this I bought two pencils, sharpened them, and sold them for four cents. And so it went until I had amassed $10.24. It was then your Great Aunt Selma died and left us $10 million.”

Cute story. But how would a preacher use it? Austin Tucker knows. He imagines some guy giving his testimony, something like this: “I joined the church and was baptized. I started working in the church and giving to the church. Oh yes, and Christ died for all my sins.”

You are a pastor who struggles to find great illustrations? Here is your book, friend.

You are a pastor who struggles with the issue of storytelling and you’re not quite sold on the subject? Austin Tucker has arrived with your answer.

You are a church member who sits in the pew and appreciates the great job your minister does with the perfect story for the right point? He’d love to receive this book as a gift.

You sit in church and listen to a minister who butchers every story he tells and you want to scream every time he attempts it? Buy him this book.

You sit in church under the ministry of a John MacArthur wannabe who hasn’t told a story in the last twenty-eight years and you’d love to have him learn the power of the well-placed anecdote? This is the book.

You have a young preacher in the family? A seminary student? Here’s a great gift.

Incidentally, when I buy someone a book, in giving it to them, I ask one thing: read the first chapter. After that, they’re on their own and can read the rest of it or not. But I know from personal experience how easy it is to receive the gift of a book and let it gather dust on the shelf because I “don’t have time” to read it all. The first chapter.

And nope, Austin isn’t paying me a dime to say any of this. In fact, he did not ask me to say anything about the book. This is a free will offering, as the saying goes.

He did give me a copy of the book, though, which I appreciate greatly. We are paying full price for the dozen I’m ordering to share with some young pastors in our association.

“The Preacher as Storyteller: The Power of Narrative in the Pulpit,” by Austin B. Tucker, is published by B & H Publishing Group, Nashville, 2008.

7 thoughts on “For Storytelling Preachers and Those Who Appreciate Them

  1. Joe,

    I have always believed stories were vital to communicating truth. As you mentioned, Jesus modeled that for us in His parables.

    Recently I read another good book on this subject: Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (Random House, 2007). It talks about the keys to communicating ideas that “stick” in our minds. They argue that it is telling stories, more than anything else, which lead us to act upon an idea.

  2. Great, Joe, as usual. BTW–I just ordered the book from buy.com for $14.95 shipped.

    You do good stuff, my friend.

    Alan

  3. Good advice, Joe, but stories can be overdone, as is true with everything except trusting Jesus, I suppose. I’m an example of overdoing stories, because in my early ministry I told so many illustrations, usually from my own experiences, that my sermons were too, too long, as you probably already know from complaints by members of Emmanuel, Greenville. At 81 years, I have cut out a lot of illustrations, using only 1 or 2, but salvaging time in the process. It was good to hear Alan Day’s comment. My son, Stephen, was deacon and deacon chairman at First, Edmond, OK, and I heard Alan preach several times during the time my son lived there. Thanks again for all you are doing, having done, and shall do for Jesus in these days. Hugh Martin.

  4. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus spoke in parables, not to make the truth known, but to hide the truth from some.

  5. My favorite sermon begins with a simple telling of a Bible story, adding some little known details (such as stones for sling shots have been recovered the size of billiard balls.) For people with little Bible knowledge, if nothing else this gives them the basic story. Amplifying it with lesser known details educate and interest longer-term church goers. Then when you go back and pull out points for emphasis, you have the story pegs to hang them on. As Austin says, Jesus set the example.

  6. I heard Dr. John McArthur in March of 2007 in Florida use a story to introduce a sermon about creation. A scientist/educator that had published several books on evolution was transformed by God’s word and was fired from the secular university after telling the university president that he was now a creationalist. He applied to Masters College and Dr. McArthur and was hired on the spot.

  7. Hi Joe, one of my favourites is to draw stories from current events and to match them to Biblical events for sermons. Spurgeon was also great at this and for instance the Xenophobic war in our country, South Africa, is a treasure trove as a source for wonderful stories about the ancient times. Jesus with His parables was also a great story teller.

    Best wishes and keep up the good work.

    Stephen

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