Sometimes you can gain a lot of ground quickly by just asking someone who is from outside your culture but will be honest enough to answer your question. This will be more helpful after doing some good thinking yourself. If you just jump to this then the benefit will be reduced, but it is still worth doing, especially if that person is in your church and you are preaching to them regularly.
So our culture tends to show in how we preach. We may accept that premise, but so what? In part 1 we introduced the subject, and in part 2 we listed five ways our culture will be showing.
What should we do about it? Here is a six-step action plan…
1. Write an initial list of your assumptions.
What comes to mind when you think of a typical preacher from your culture? It is good to have a starting point so that as you think and research further you will see what you have learned. Maybe start without any real categories, just what seems obvious to you.
2. Start to analyze your culture using categories.
In the last post I listed five: self, authority, confidence, humour and emotion/passion. You might also consider organizational style and clarity (in respect to sermon content), use of visuals and expectation of the audience to read during a presentation, body language, smile and facial expression, and more.
