What Sermon Illustrations Should Be Banned From Pulpits?

1. There is a train speeding along approaching a draw bridge over a canyon … the draw bridge is up. The draw bridge engineer must close it but his only son is trapped in the gears. To lower the draw bridge will save the train and its passengers but crush his son. (Comment: heard it several times in evangelistic meetings. Why is there a draw bridge over a canyon?)


2. The one about soldiers freezing to death on the frozen lake. They are sticking together (probably frozen together). But they are dedicated!

Laugh - and I thought I’d heard almost every one… those are two I’ve missed… :-)

Seriously - I think sometimes a good illustration can get a point across. We all process information differently - for me sometimes it helps.

[Jim]

1. There is a train speeding along approaching a draw bridge over a canyon … the draw bridge is up. The draw bridge engineer must close it but his only son is trapped in the gears. To lower the draw bridge will save the train and its passengers but crush his son. (Comment: heard it several times in evangelistic meetings. Why is there a draw bridge over a canyon?)
2. The one about soldiers freezing to death on the frozen lake. They are sticking together (probably frozen together). But they are dedicated!

I don’t think an illustration should start with “At my former pastorate, the members were so worldly that they … .”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty_Martyrs_of_Sebaste

​Here’s the story

http://www.visionradioproductions.com/node/489

I’ve heard it twice. Had it been introduced with information in the WIKI article it would have been more powerful. Both times devoid of any detail (like time and location) … just kind of a weeping story of dedication .

Interesting article. I still hear the credit card/carbon copy illustration sometimes. That one’s pretty outdated now.

The best part of that article was the Haddon Robinson part. I know that I have been guilty of using illustrations in Sunday School that probably don’t illuminate the subject very well.

are the ones based on internet hoaxes. Is it a bad thing to email the preacher the link to the relevant Snopes article when you get home from church?

The frog-in-boiling-water is one that has a smidgen of truth, but Pierce Brosnan’s character uses it in Dante’s Peak, so that should disqualify it for a sermon, right?

rather than nitpick sermon illustrations that I want to turn into Swiss cheese so that I feel smarter than him. But that’s just me.

Preachers need to have their sermons critiqued. Honest, concerned criticism is a benefit. To excuse weak preaching by blaming the congregation for not praying enough for their pastor is not helpful. Of course we should pray for the preacher but loving comments, suggestions, and questions are helpful. I know some churches where there are Sunday night evaluation meetings of the sermons and services that are beneficial for all involved. “Criticism” is not a bad word and the preacher who responds negatively to criticism needs to examine himself. After nearly 40 years of preaching, I still benefit from friends who let me know where my sermons were weak and whether I would have been better off leaving that particular outline on my desk.

BTW, I occasionally listen to sermons preached by friends here on SI and some of them could benefit from some healthy criticism. I also freely admit that a lot, if not most, of the people I preach to are a lot smarter than I am.

But criticizing over “he used the bridge illustration” or emailing Snopes links is nitpicking.

As for the smarter comment, the point is not whether the congregation is smarter, the point is worrying about illustrations, assuming they aren’t clearly inappropriate. Pastors of the average church need encouragement, prayer and support. Not “hey, I sent you an email saying that the illustration you used was debunked…didn’t you know that?”

And Sunday night “evaluations”…wow. Hey, if that is what the pastor is willing to put up with…

[Mark_Smith] But criticizing over “he used the bridge illustration” or emailing Snopes links is nitpicking.

As for the smarter comment, the point is not whether the congregation is smarter, the point is worrying about illustrations, assuming they aren’t clearly inappropriate. Pastors of the average church need encouragement, prayer and support. Not “hey, I sent you an email saying that the illustration you used was debunked…didn’t you know that?”

And Sunday night “evaluations”…wow. Hey, if that is what the pastor is willing to put up with…

If I can hear a far-fetched three-hanky story and look it up on snopes.com and see that it isn’t true in less than 3 minutes, don’t you think that a pastor, who is going to stand in a pulpit and claim that he is declaring the Word of God, should take a moment to make sure that he isn’t perpetuating falsehoods? What IS sermon prep if it doesn’t involve basic preparation like fact checking? Urban legends, myths, hoaxes, and downright lies are clearly inappropriate for the pulpit.
If an illustration illustrates, then that’s jimdandy. But when it is a gimmick to illicit tears or guilt, it’s tripe and doesn’t belong in church.
BTW, I come from an IFB background where one preacher after another spent 5 minutes reading Scripture and 45 minutes telling stories. If I want tall tales or pull-at-your-heartstrings stories, I’ll watch TV.

Your pastor tells “far-fetched three-hanky story” [sic] , just to get emotional responses? Why do you attend his church?

I guess our backgrounds are radically different. I have heard great preaching, even from so-called “no bodies” with no MDiv who pastor small churches, all of my Christian life.

The problem you describe Susan isn’t poor choice of a sermon illustration, but a poor choice of a PASTOR!

[Mark_Smith]

But criticizing over “he used the bridge illustration” or emailing Snopes links is nitpicking.

As for the smarter comment, the point is not whether the congregation is smarter, the point is worrying about illustrations, assuming they aren’t clearly inappropriate. Pastors of the average church need encouragement, prayer and support. Not “hey, I sent you an email saying that the illustration you used was debunked…didn’t you know that?”

And Sunday night “evaluations”…wow. Hey, if that is what the pastor is willing to put up with…

I agree in principle, but I email my pastor information when he has propagated a hoax. I am confident he does not want to spreading error, and this helps hem avoid future embarrassment.

After the story trend started and showed no signs of abating, we left.

Trying to fit current events with end-times prophecy could fit in here also. I heard the story that China was able to field a 200 million man army was not true. Whether true or not, it’s not good to use unverified third-hand information when preaching/teaching - at least not without a disclaimer.

I keep a “illustration log” with nothing but news stories. I look at Google News about 100 times per day. I see stories that illustrate sin, wickedness and such and I save the links in the document along with a little description. It helps to drive things home, and it’s relevant, contemporary and accurate. For example, consider this story out of England from April about a woman contemplating an abortion:

British woman plans on abortion so she can get a spot on a reality show:[1]

“Puffing on a cigarette and rubbing her baby bump, the controversial model and call girl – who will have her abortion at a clinic this week – said: ‘I’m finally on the verge of becoming famous and I’m not going to ruin it now … An abortion will further my career. This time next year I won’t have a baby. Instead, I’ll be famous, driving a bright pink Range Rover and buying a big house. Nothing will get in my way.’”

Gemma Aldridge, “NHS boob job girl Josie Cunningham plans to have abortion so she can star on BIG BROTHER,” Mirror, 20APR14. Retrieved from http://goo.gl/ymvYjF.

​​That’s a real illustration to drive total depravity home. It’s real life. It’s recent. It’s horrible. It gets the point across. It shows why we’re incapable of achieving righteousness on our own (Gal 2:21).

For general illustrations, I never use vague, impersonal ones. I typically draw on my own life, especially my 10 years as a police officer. I don’t own a “book” of sermon illustrations. I often stew on them for a while before coming up with something.

I did a sermon once on the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation. I put a table on the platform, with a rock, a sponge, a pitcher of water and a bowl. To create a pathetic form of dramatic effect, I covered the table with hideous tablecloth I found in the depths of the church basement. I poured water over the rock to illustrate how the word of God just rolls right over our hearts without the work of the Spirit. I next poured water onto the sponge, and rung it out. I told them that this was what happened when the Spirit changes our hearts so that we will repent and believe. It is the best illustration I’ve veer done for a sermon, and it helped a lot.

I think Pastors could do a better job with illustrations. Don’t take something out of an illustration book. Use your own experiences. Be creative. Make sure it’s relevant to the subject.