If I had my way, we’d ban three-point sermons.

As far as I can tell, Jesus didn’t preach any three-point sermons. So why do we teach that in homilectics again? I’m being somewhat facetious. We shouldn’t ban three-point sermons. As long as they don’t alliterate

We need lots of different kinds of sermons because there are lots of different kinds of learners. That is educational theory 101. But let me zoom out and make an observation: I think linear sermons worked in the modern era with a left-brain orientation. They don’t work as well in the postmodern era that is moving toward a right-brain orientation.

I think preachers need to take their cues from Jesus. Jesus preached in parables. There are fifty-three of them in the gospels. Each one is a masterpiece in how to communicate to the right-brain of listeners. You’ve got to use metaphors and tell stories that capture the imagination. For what it’s worth, I think there are three keys to a great sermon: metaphor, metaphor, metaphor.

Ingmar Bergman, the Swedish filmmaker, said, “Facts go straight to the head; stories go straight to the heart.”

Sermons need to be both/and. They have to use facts that inform the left-brain and tell stories that inform the right-brain. But Jesus targeted the right-brain. For what it’s worth, most of his parables are less than 200 words! He said so much by saying so little! He didn’t make “points.” He told stories that made the point. Sometimes he connected the dots for his listeners. But sometimes he refused to connect the dots for people! He made them come to their own conclusions.

Maybe we ought to preach some messages that don’t have conclusions?

Leonard Sweet says, “Points no longer make points.” I love that. Why? Because there is a shift in the way people are relating to God. I think most people during the modern era had a left-brain relationship with God that was intellectual. Nothing wrong with that. The more we know God the more we can worship Him. We ought to be spiritual intellectuals. But we’ve neglected the right-brain relationship with God that is experiential, mysterious, and imaginative.

Long story short, we need some more right-brain preachers who are serious about right-brain discipleship.