Is Preaching a Whole-Body Art Form?

Subject: Religion
Pages: 2
Words: 500
Reading time:
2 min

The phenomenon of preaching can be analyzed both as a monolithic concept and a multi-step process, each opinion providing a range of opportunities for insightful commentary. For the purpose of a better understanding of the goals and efficacy of preaching, some argue that it is best to view it as a single notion as opposed to a combination of concepts. However, the specified perspective does not offer many opportunities for the assessment of preaching and the impact that it produces. As a result, it becomes difficult to navigate the process of a sermon and make its message palatable and easily acceptable to the target audience. Therefore, it is best to view preaching as a combination of notions such as the tone of a pastor’s voice, the message that a Christian leader strives to convey, the words chosen for delivering the aid message, and the body language used by the pastor. The described perspective appears to be the most reasonable since it helps to dissect the effects that a sermon produces by classifying them accordingly.

The suggested way of approaching a sermon might seem extreme, yet it also provides a way of improving its effects and reinforcing its message. Perceiving preaching as a package deal might be regarded as slightly prosaic as an approach toward understanding it, yet it is hardly an extreme way of viewing it. Despite the fact that the name might not be as attractive as it should be, the idea of considering a sermon as a combination of words, tone, message, and nonverbal communication helps to shape its impact. Therefore, preaching needs to be approached as the so-called package deal.

In this relation, defining the notion of the “total package” when considering the phenomenon of preaching might be helpful. Namely, the notion of the “total package” may be applied to a sermon once it manages to incorporate each of the details above in a manner as balanced as possible. Namely, this involves the scenarios in which the verbal and nonverbal elements of s preaching, along with the tone and message as a finished and polished product, manage to strike a chord with the audience. Although the actual correlation between each of the elements depends on the situation in which preaching takes place, the impact that it makes should represent a coherent and consistent experience.

In the described context, the idea of a sermon as a whole body-art form needs to be mentioned. Since a pastor has to create an immersive experience for visitors, a sermon becomes an art form with the help of which Christian leader expresses themselves. In addition, the need to combine verbal and nonverbal elements in it implies that a sermon should be perceived as a whole-body experience as opposed to a fragmented one. The specified effect can be achieved by considering each of the sermon elements carefully and understanding what ways of conveying the intended idea are the most appropriate.