If there’s one thing you never set out to be as a leader or communicator, it’s boring.
And yet everyone who communicates, preaches, or even tries to persuade someone of an idea has discovered that sinking sense that your sermon just isn’t as riveting as it could be. Or that you’re dull. Even when you’re preaching the Word of God, which is anything but dull.
Let me ask you: How exactly does that happen?
Here Are 7 Common Reasons Your Sermons Are Boring
1. You’re actually bored with the message.
Oh, I know, let’s start by going right for the heart.
But let’s be honest: Have you ever preached a message you were bored with?
Looking back, I have.
So why would you ever preach a boring message?
Well, there’s the pressure of Sunday morning. You’re scrambling to get a message done and you just didn’t linger long enough over it to make it pop.
Another reason you’re bored with a message is that you haven’t yet figured out why it matters. We’ll look at that in more detail shortly.
If you sense you’re bored with a message, make that a hard stop. Don’t move forward until your message engages you.
I promise you this. Preachers, if you’re bored with the message you’re delivering, your audience will be, too.
Preachers, if you’re bored with the message you’re delivering, your audience will be too.
So what do you do if you’re bored with the message? Move on to point two and ask yourself, “Why does this even matter?”
You need to know why it matters internally, and then you need to explain it to your audience, which will engage them.
2. You haven’t explained why what you’re saying matters.
Simon Sinek was right: People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
Most preachers are really skilled at telling people what they need to know (as in, “Here’s what God’s Word has to say to us…”)
But if your message comes across as boring, it’s almost guaranteed that you haven’t explained to your listeners why any of it matters.
Why establishes relevance. For example, everyone knows you should eat healthy and exercise, but many don’t anyway. Why change? After all…food tastes good and exercise is hard.
But imagine going to your doctor and learning you are developing Type 2 diabetes and you’re a prime candidate for a heart attack in the next six months. All along, you’ve known the what. But you just got deeply motivated by a why.
