There are metaphors that will have a general appeal for some listeners and a very specific appeal for others. In other words, some will find deeper levels of meaning in any particular metaphor, while others have little personal connection to it.

For example, there was broad appeal and connection found in the “ripple” metaphor mentioned above. We saw people connecting to God through the act of dropping rocks into a pond as a symbol of creating their own ripples of Christ’s love in the world. Afterwards one worshiper expressed how this was the most meaningful service he had ever experienced. He then went on to tell us that he is a physics professor. The metaphor of ripples has a very specific appeal for him because physics is something he is passionate about. And although others also found meaning in this service, they may not have made the same deep connections.

Andrew Baer also said during our online seminar that there’s an evangelistic component to visual preaching: “If you are trying to connect with a particular microculture, what images do they immerse themselves in? What movies are connecting with them and what images are in those movies? What music do they listen to and what kinds of album covers do the artists use?”

While this is true, understand there is also not much of a difference between the cultural tastes of the typical churchgoer and the typical “seeker.” We all live in the same digital culture.

For example, on Pentecost a lot of people use the passage from Acts 2 that includes “tongues as of fire.” Whether seeker or churched-person, this is just a creepy thought. Tongues of fire hanging from the ceiling? Seminary grads and church insiders forget that this image needs decoding. Image can help, but not images of tongues. The most famous cultural tongue is the Rolling Stones logo, which is probably not the association a sermon on Pentecost wants to make. An outsider mentality is needed to evaluate all communication happening at the church on Pentecost.

5. Immerse yourself in visual culture.

Len is currently working with a congregation on their “worship presentation.” One Sunday morning the church’s worship producer asked him to listen closely to the sermon. She was concerned that the preacher’s message on alcohol and drugs was too heavy-handed.

Len’s response: it was information, sensitively portrayed ?Äì but information that may or may not have any impact. A person dealing with addiction probably already knows such information, but is helpless to stop her or his behavior. For someone being tempted, such information is no match for the desire to feel good. So what is a preacher to do? What option is there to the time-honored Christian tradition of using information as a scare tactic?

Consider Munich, Spielberg’s recent reflection on revenge. In this film, an Israeli agent goes on a mission to hunt down and kill those responsible for the terror act at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. While many have focused on the political layers in the film, there is also a strong spiritual layer. The story is about the agent losing his soul as he hunts down those responsible. Once he learns the carnal knowledge of murder, he can not unlearn it. He can not go back.

Herein lies a meaningful sermon on drugs, alcohol, or any other “illicit” act. The danger is that we can lose our soul. We can learn things that we then wish we had never learned. We want to return to innocence that we can no longer experience. The high leaves and we are left with a haunting. (Johnny Cash captured this well in his final hit song before he died, “Hurt.”)

The power of this realization isn’t in information. Information isn’t bad; it just can’t hold a candle to the glimpse of reality that one experiences when watching a movie like Munich. To preach such a message is to shift from a sermon based on the written word to a sermon based on the visual word.

The idea of learning to think in image is a plea to discover the power of art to communicate the gospel. Give listeners more than information. Give them an experience of God through image and story that will open their eyes and help them discover why Truth is so true.

6. Finally, just do it.

Recently someone asked how to help an established congregation make the move to visual preaching.

Our suggestion is to demonstrate the power of communicating God’s word through image. Although having a theological rationale is vital, and something we love to talk about it, it’s a bit counterproductive. Engaging in rational, logical debate about visual experience is like reading a website about the Grand Canyon. It gives a glimpse, but it’s not the real deal. Our advice: demonstrate, don’t debate.

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