We preachers do not teach in a social or historical vacuum. We live in a unique time in human history with unique advantages as well as unique obstacles. If we are to faithfully proclaim the word of God in our specific culture and time, then we must be aware of the social and historical context of our preaching.

In considering this, it is impossible to deny the great influence that electronic communication media has had on our culture. Indeed, "the information age" is one label that has been attached to our historical state of affairs. The great amount of information -- both visual and aural -- that we are daily subjected to is made possible in light of another common label affixed to our times: "the technological age." New technologies are never neutral or quiet; they always bring about great change, introducing new problems alongside of their offered blessings.

One of the greatest challenges to contemporary preaching is the influx of electronic media that has been made possible through new technologies. Electronic media has changed the way we speak, listen and learn. One of the biggest changes has been the shift from a word-oriented to an image-oriented style of communication. This holds potentially devastating consequences for the preacher of God's word -- for all will admit that watching someone deliver a message from a stationary pulpit is not the most visually stimulating image in the world.

These new cultural factors are the issues Timothy Turner wishes to address in his book, Preaching to a Programmed People: Effective Communication in a Media-Saturated Society. Turner isolates one type of electronic media as the most influential form of communication shaping our parishioners -- television. According to Turner, contemporary preachers must quit denying reality and realize the influence of television in how their parishioners think, learn, and listen. He writes, "Facing the facts means admitting that the people to whom you preach have a love affair with TV" (p. 14). He presents statistics to make his case: "Ninety-eight percent of American homes have a TV; 64 percent have two or more. In 1991 alone Americans purchased over 21.5 million color sets. On an average the TV runs 29.5 hours per week in the home. Even its location exhibits authority" (p. 15). The love affair with TV hits all ages, but particularly the elderly. "Women above the age of fifty-five consume more TV than any other age group, watching nearly forty-one hours of TV each week" (p. 14). Measurable statistics can be used to prove that TV consumption has hindered our ability to read. Turner submits that this is not the only problem television creates. In his perspective, TV has also cast a "crippling shadow over our ability to listen to preaching" (p. 15, emphasis his).

Turner spends the first half of his book analyzing the problem. His main contention is that "a TV-conditioned mentality… constitutes a genuine barrier to effective preaching" (p. 19). There are a number of adverse consequences when information is primarily assimilated visually rather than aurally (as is the case with television). In such cases the word always takes second place to the image. How many of us flip through the channels with our remote listening for some tasty dialogue? Instead, we generally are looking for the most visually stimulating image, for the words have taken second place to the image.

There are numerous problems that arise when the visual takes primacy over the aural. First, images alone do not tend to communicate ideas well. Second, images do not open themselves up to verification -- they simply are. Words, on the other hand, are either true or false. Furthermore, images are spatial and apprehended in a moment. The word, on the other hand, is temporal and apprehended over time. "Language requires activity, effort, and time on the part of the receiver to follow, process, comprehend, and respond" (p. 24). Turner argues that people trained on television will generally not have the patience or skills to learn to discern between true and false ideas, for an image-oriented medium like television does not promote critical analysis, evaluation, or reflection. Consider how difficult it would be to write out everything that is being communicated by a standard commercial on television, where the images are speeding by at one-a-second or less.

Undeniably, images need translation into words before discussion, but to implement this task is nearly hopeless. Anyone may easily prove this point by trying it. Hours of personal experience teach that at best it's frustrating and at worst, a nightmare. Moving images resist translation into words. TV entertains, relaxes, or offers escape but seldom evaluates or analyzes. (pp. 23-24)

Numerous problems arise in light of this new technology, but perhaps the most destructive problem is the apathy television promotes.

Think about it -- when was the last time you saw anything on TV that demanded action?... Information requiring no response fosters idleness and passivity and results in brain dead listeners. They have already decided to do nothing about what they're going to hear before they even begin to listen. (p. 30)

If our congregations take this same attitude toward our preaching, we are sunk! Television hits us with a constant barrage of information and yet makes no demands of us except that we continuing watching. If our parishioners listen to us with the same attitude with which they listen to the evening news, then we will be plagued with people who think they have done their part by simply listening -- a dangerous position to be in in light of Scripture's repeated condemnation of "mere hearers"!

All of television's dangers and limitations should not cause us to abandon the technology altogether, but rather, to realize that our people's ability to listen to preaching has been radically impacted by this technology.

In the second half of the book Turner offers some practical helps in effectively communicating to a programmed people. He suggests that we "capitalize on this universal TV language" and use it to our advantage. Television has been described as the "single most shared reality" among Americans. In light of this, there is much material from television we can use as a starting point for messages or as illustrative material for our sermons. Turner warns that we should use discernment in our choice of material, but we must not exclude this material from our preaching because of its universal appeal.

Another thing we can do is to learn to recognize that we have an advantage over television. We actually know our people -- their lives, loves, fears, hopes, etc. -- and thus we can "target" our people in our messages and applications. Furthermore, we can read the body language of our people and make adjustments in our preaching in order to sustain their attentiveness and interest. In short, unlike television, we are actually engaging with a live audience and are thus able to take advantage of all the unique benefits that arise from interacting with real human subjects. Television is, at best, a one-way medium. But preaching, at best, should be a two-way interactive event. The preacher can still do the majority of speaking while remaining conscience that he is talking to real people. This point of contact is important in effective preaching. People need to know that someone is really attempting to engage with them!

In light of TV's frenetic pacing and constantly shifting images, Turner suggests that we "purge boredom factors" that may cause people to lose attention. To do this we should be mobile when we preach, picturesque in our illustrations, and make our points with brevity.

The concluding chapters of Turner's work is the least helpful section of the book. In this chapter he attempts to compare and contrast TV's perspective of different topics (God, Christianity, human beings, masculinity, femininity, family, sex, violence, possessions, wealth) with the biblical perspective of said topics. Obviously, there is value in developing a biblical perspective on these topics. But Turner's assumption that television provides one integrative perspective on any topic is faulty. It would be better to examine what "X-Files," "All in the Family," or "Little House on the Prairie" have to say about these topics in the context of each respective show. If one mixes all of television's offerings into one package, the result is chaos, not one cohesive perspective.

Turner's suggestions are not altogether unique, but they are generally helpful. The importance of familiar illustrations, picturesque language, stating main points briefly and succinctly, and seeking to connect with our people are insights that are found in other homiletics texts. The uniqueness to Turner's book is the analysis of television's influence and the way that it has shaped how our parishioners listen to us. As is often the case with books like this, the analysis is better than the diagnosis -- but knowing there is a problem is at least a good start in addressing the problem. Turner's book is thus a step in the right direction.

If I had to highlight one possible overall weakness of the book, it would be this: There is a danger that our attempts to accommodate our current culture may end up in an uncritical acceptance of our culture, and thus lead to the loss of any prophetic edge to our message. Our goal must always be to bring our people up to the level of the Bible, not bring the Bible down to the level of our people. Christianity has always been a countercultural religion. The values of the dominant culture have rarely befriended the Christian faith. While we must recognize that the majority of our people are "programmed", we must not cater to their condition, but ultimately seek to lift them above the quagmire. Thus, a big part of preaching to a programmed people will involve communicating to them that the purpose of worship and preaching is not entertainment, but rather, exhortation, encouragement and edification.

We must convince our people that we are ultimately to be a community shaped by the word -- listening to the word, and proclaiming the word. In short, we are to be people of the word! A image-oriented society must not diminish our commitment to the proclamation of the word. It is the word that makes disciples, sanctifies, regenerates, and sets free. Numerous verses could be used to demonstrate this. Below is just a sampling:

• "It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4)
• "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. (John 17:17)
• "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17)
• And take... the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17)
• "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you..." (Colossians 3:16)
• "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)
• "In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures." (James 1:18)
• "...in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:21)
• "for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God." (1 Peter 1:23)
• "like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation," (1 Peter 2:2)

In light of our commitment to the centrality of the word, we must learn to preach to a programmed people without sacrificing the priority of the word. "In TV words are secondary, in preaching they're everything" (p. 22). Even though we do not live in times that are conducive to an emphasis on the printed or spoken word, God's command to proclaim the Gospel remains the same. This method may seem foolish to us, but preaching the word is God's ordained means for the dissemination of his Gospel. "For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe" (1 Corinthians 1:21).

As Turner argues, our people may very well have a love affair with the television. We must recognize this in order to truly connect with them for we can't preach to them as we would like them to be, but as they presently are. His book is a helpful introduction toward the end of effectively communicating in our media-saturated society.

© Richard J. Vincent, November 15, 2001