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Preaching in an Age of Distraction
Preaching 's Top Books on Preaching Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. ― Proverbs 4:25-26 Preaching is difficult enough under the best of circumstances. But what are we to do when it seems that all of us―hearers and preachers alike―are constantly distracted? Veteran preacher and homiletics professor J. Ellsworth Kalas offers wise insights for effective preaching in an age of distraction. He examines how people have been distracted in every era and explores how God can meet people precisely at the point of their distraction. Regardless of whatever new technologies come our way, this call to pastoral attentiveness, creativity and excellence provides avenues for connecting with congregations with a countercultural clarity of focus. Rediscover how the proclamation of the Word still speaks profoundly to distracted hearers. Invite your congregation to a renewed attention to the things of God.
167 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2010
16 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
J. Ellsworth Kalas
83 books6 followersJ. Ellsworth Kalas has been part of the faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary since 1993, after thirty-eight years as a United Methodist pastor and five years in evangelism with the World Methodist Council. He has been a presenter on DISCIPLE videos and is the author of more than thirty books, including the popular Back Side series as well as the Christian Believer study.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 3, 2020
This book has a pretty niche audience, but as someone in that audience, I found it both practical and inspiring. Kalas writes with energy and enthusiasm, which smooths over what could be considered faults in the book. Rather than becoming a jeremiad about "the kids' newfangled technologies"--which is the danger I feared after the first few chapters--Kalas views the Age of Distraction as a time of opportunity, when "the foolishness of preaching" offers something different from what has become the norm.
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who are in the niche. (If the title appeals to you, that's you.)
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who are in the niche. (If the title appeals to you, that's you.)
April 18, 2024
Not entirely sure what I was expecting/hoping for---but this wasn't it. The majority of what Kalas had to say was simply observing the struggles around distraction and attention span in the different circles of the world. Any application was rudimentary and for whatever reason did not resonate with me apart from a few instances. A few tidbits here and there, and nothing seemed completely off base or anything. In the end, it seems like Kalas didn't need to go to all the effort to compile and write this book if he wasn't going to dig any further than the surface.
March 28, 2014
This is not really a 'how to' book. Kalas doesn't have a formula for delivering whimsical sermons which grip the congregation. Instead he shares from decades of experience as preacher and professor and draws heavily on his Evangelical heritage (especially in a Wesleyan key). And this book is full of practical insights for anyone climbing into the pulpit.
Preaching in the Age of Distraction divides into ten chapters. Here is a look at the book in skeletal form: Chapter one and two discuss the distractedness of our age (and others). Chapter three discusses the internal distractions that preachers bring with them into the pulpit, and chapter four describes some of the causes of the congregation's distractions. Chapter five discusses the benefits born out of distraction. Namely, Kalas sees the distractiveness of our age as a catalyst to strive for greater homiletic quality. Chapter six argues that excellence acts as a counter-force against the problem of distractions. Chapter seven and eight unpack how to craft sermons creatively and how to find your preaching style (or the style that best appeals to your context). But lest you think that Kalas is focused on 'technique,' chapter nine argues for the importance of sermon content. The best way to hold a congregations attention is to have something worth saying and there is nothing more worth saying than the Gospel. Finally, in chapter ten Kallas says that the preacher's 'secret resource' stems from the care she has for the congregation.
I really liked several things about Kalas's book. First of all, I think he names the problem of distraction incisively and a clear sense of the purpose of preaching. He states:
Those of us who preach, teach or write are in constant battle on the field of distractions .We are engaged in the struggle for the souls of humankind: we compete daily for their time, their attention, their feelings and eventually theri commitment and conduct. For us, distraction is not just a personal problem with which we, like the rest of our race, must contend. It is much more, because of our calling and because of the talents we hope we possess, we must enter the distractions competition.We're not satisfied that the race should go by default to those who have the largest budgets the best polling data or the most sophisticated facilities. We feel compelled to make our case because we believe that, quite simply it must be made (18-9).
As this passage makes clear, Kalas has a high view of preaching and the pastor's role in speaking truth in the midst of this distracted age.
Secondly, I think he offers many practical insights on crafting and creating good sermons. The book is full of suggestions (from Kalas and from other ministers whose quotations pepper the text). Kalas suggests attention to our context, attention to scripture, and our craft. He also describes disciplines which will help train us into people with a broad appeal (such as reading poetry and fiction-p. 74-5). In the preaching moment, he gives suggestions on how to make sermons more interact and involve congregants more in the process.
Finally I really appreciated his final chapter. In it Kalas urges that pastors foster connections with their congregation through regular conversations and pastoral care (152) and pulpit vulnerability, where as pastors we can admit our own sinfulness (158). Long ago Aristotle observed that an effective public speaker had logos (thoughtful content), ethos (moral character) and pathos (care for his audience). Kalas's antidotes to distraction speak to the preachers ability to wed thoughtful exposition with demonstrative care for Christ's church. This book packs a punch! I recommend this book for preachers (lay preachers and professional clergy) who are seeking ways to hone their craft. Kalas is a wise guide. I give this book five stars: ★★★★★.
Thank you to IVP for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest review.
Preaching in the Age of Distraction divides into ten chapters. Here is a look at the book in skeletal form: Chapter one and two discuss the distractedness of our age (and others). Chapter three discusses the internal distractions that preachers bring with them into the pulpit, and chapter four describes some of the causes of the congregation's distractions. Chapter five discusses the benefits born out of distraction. Namely, Kalas sees the distractiveness of our age as a catalyst to strive for greater homiletic quality. Chapter six argues that excellence acts as a counter-force against the problem of distractions. Chapter seven and eight unpack how to craft sermons creatively and how to find your preaching style (or the style that best appeals to your context). But lest you think that Kalas is focused on 'technique,' chapter nine argues for the importance of sermon content. The best way to hold a congregations attention is to have something worth saying and there is nothing more worth saying than the Gospel. Finally, in chapter ten Kallas says that the preacher's 'secret resource' stems from the care she has for the congregation.
I really liked several things about Kalas's book. First of all, I think he names the problem of distraction incisively and a clear sense of the purpose of preaching. He states:
Those of us who preach, teach or write are in constant battle on the field of distractions .We are engaged in the struggle for the souls of humankind: we compete daily for their time, their attention, their feelings and eventually theri commitment and conduct. For us, distraction is not just a personal problem with which we, like the rest of our race, must contend. It is much more, because of our calling and because of the talents we hope we possess, we must enter the distractions competition.We're not satisfied that the race should go by default to those who have the largest budgets the best polling data or the most sophisticated facilities. We feel compelled to make our case because we believe that, quite simply it must be made (18-9).
As this passage makes clear, Kalas has a high view of preaching and the pastor's role in speaking truth in the midst of this distracted age.
Secondly, I think he offers many practical insights on crafting and creating good sermons. The book is full of suggestions (from Kalas and from other ministers whose quotations pepper the text). Kalas suggests attention to our context, attention to scripture, and our craft. He also describes disciplines which will help train us into people with a broad appeal (such as reading poetry and fiction-p. 74-5). In the preaching moment, he gives suggestions on how to make sermons more interact and involve congregants more in the process.
Finally I really appreciated his final chapter. In it Kalas urges that pastors foster connections with their congregation through regular conversations and pastoral care (152) and pulpit vulnerability, where as pastors we can admit our own sinfulness (158). Long ago Aristotle observed that an effective public speaker had logos (thoughtful content), ethos (moral character) and pathos (care for his audience). Kalas's antidotes to distraction speak to the preachers ability to wed thoughtful exposition with demonstrative care for Christ's church. This book packs a punch! I recommend this book for preachers (lay preachers and professional clergy) who are seeking ways to hone their craft. Kalas is a wise guide. I give this book five stars: ★★★★★.
Thank you to IVP for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest review.
March 7, 2019
In light of Alan Noble's fine work Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age, this volume may seem a bit more abstract or theologically light.
Kalas is addressing an issue from a further away viewpoint that Noble, which comes out in some of his concepts. For example, Kalas is dismissive of both sociological classifications of generations and the networking aspects of social media. Granted this volume was published in 2012 and both of those topics (primarily Gen-Z and the advent of Instagram and Snapchat) were "bleeding edge" topics in 2012. However it does sound somewhat irrelevant in 2019.
In many ways, Kalas shows his age, not necessarily his wisdom, in this book, referring back to a ministry context that is further back in the past than my birth. He both longs for a "simpler time" yet accepts that we live in a faster culture. Yet, he is able to balance this with more contemporary examples (although not scholarly and pastoral resources) and statements from current ministry leaders.
Both Kalas and Noble embrace "distraction" as something potentially positive, yet from different paradigms. They both understand "distraction" as a spiritual issue, and they both challenge the church to confront distraction with more vim and vigor than we have seen recently. Yet Kalas sees distraction as something we can easily do aware with if we will simply put our phones down. While this hints at irrelevancy, his challenge for the church to preach with both passion and purpose, while providing some practical guidance in how to do so, makes this volume a useful addition to the contemporary preacher's library.
Kalas is addressing an issue from a further away viewpoint that Noble, which comes out in some of his concepts. For example, Kalas is dismissive of both sociological classifications of generations and the networking aspects of social media. Granted this volume was published in 2012 and both of those topics (primarily Gen-Z and the advent of Instagram and Snapchat) were "bleeding edge" topics in 2012. However it does sound somewhat irrelevant in 2019.
In many ways, Kalas shows his age, not necessarily his wisdom, in this book, referring back to a ministry context that is further back in the past than my birth. He both longs for a "simpler time" yet accepts that we live in a faster culture. Yet, he is able to balance this with more contemporary examples (although not scholarly and pastoral resources) and statements from current ministry leaders.
Both Kalas and Noble embrace "distraction" as something potentially positive, yet from different paradigms. They both understand "distraction" as a spiritual issue, and they both challenge the church to confront distraction with more vim and vigor than we have seen recently. Yet Kalas sees distraction as something we can easily do aware with if we will simply put our phones down. While this hints at irrelevancy, his challenge for the church to preach with both passion and purpose, while providing some practical guidance in how to do so, makes this volume a useful addition to the contemporary preacher's library.
April 22, 2019
There's a book on pastoral theology, distractions, tech-free or tech-lite living, and neuroscience brewing in the contemporary Christian publishing sphere, and a lot of books seem to hover around the concepts. I just want someone to bring them all in together, but do so without the current "This generation is woefully in danger unlike every generation before!"
November 28, 2019
Some good practical tips, but nothing particularly noteworthy.
April 10, 2014
J. Ellsworth Kalas, Preaching in an Age of Distraction (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2014). Paperback / Kindle
Ours is an Age of Distraction.
The ubiquity of smart phones and social media, together with the crush of the 24/7 news cycle, creates an overload of information that renders concentration difficult. The proliferation of options regarding household necessities, entertainment options, and extracurricular activities renders even the best decision-makers anxious.
Should I buy oatmeal or cream of wheat? A specific brand or generic? Instant or… Wait, my cell phone is ringing. My wife wants me to pick up our son from his play date and take him to baseball practice before we all go to church tonight.
As ministers of the gospel, we are distracted. Our parishioners are distracted. Our culture is distracted.
How do we preach as such people to such people in such an age? How do we become undistracted preachers ourselves?
J. Ellsworth Kalas sets out to answer these questions in this little gem of a book. Kalas is a United Methodist minister and senior professor of homiletics at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. Like John Wesley, his spiritual forefather, Kalas wants preachers to speak plain truth to plain people. To do that, they need to cultivate excellence in their own lives so that they can minister with excellence to the people of God.
In many ways, Preaching in an Age of Distraction is a primer in homiletics, covering the standard topics: the preacher’s spiritual formation, preparation, and sermon content and delivery. But using distraction as a fundamental problem to solve gives poignancy and piquancy to his remarks. The book helps preachers move from distraction to excellence.
Preaching in an Age of Distraction is an good book—an instant classic, I hope—for pastors just setting out in their ministries, as well as those stuck in the mud who need help out.
P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.
Ours is an Age of Distraction.
The ubiquity of smart phones and social media, together with the crush of the 24/7 news cycle, creates an overload of information that renders concentration difficult. The proliferation of options regarding household necessities, entertainment options, and extracurricular activities renders even the best decision-makers anxious.
Should I buy oatmeal or cream of wheat? A specific brand or generic? Instant or… Wait, my cell phone is ringing. My wife wants me to pick up our son from his play date and take him to baseball practice before we all go to church tonight.
As ministers of the gospel, we are distracted. Our parishioners are distracted. Our culture is distracted.
How do we preach as such people to such people in such an age? How do we become undistracted preachers ourselves?
J. Ellsworth Kalas sets out to answer these questions in this little gem of a book. Kalas is a United Methodist minister and senior professor of homiletics at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. Like John Wesley, his spiritual forefather, Kalas wants preachers to speak plain truth to plain people. To do that, they need to cultivate excellence in their own lives so that they can minister with excellence to the people of God.
In many ways, Preaching in an Age of Distraction is a primer in homiletics, covering the standard topics: the preacher’s spiritual formation, preparation, and sermon content and delivery. But using distraction as a fundamental problem to solve gives poignancy and piquancy to his remarks. The book helps preachers move from distraction to excellence.
Preaching in an Age of Distraction is an good book—an instant classic, I hope—for pastors just setting out in their ministries, as well as those stuck in the mud who need help out.
P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.
July 13, 2016
This book is not what I expected. I was hoping for some helpful ideas to combat the age of distraction that our culture has become. Instead, it is filled with text about the reality and plight of distractions as well as the usefulness that distraction has become. The author was quite eloquent and easy to read (gained him the 3rd star). I was most pleased to find the encouragement behind the distraction (the 2nd star). Nevertheless, I felt it was not all that eye opening. I'm not sure who his particular audience was. I think he wanted to speak to the preachers in the trenches of distraction's war, but it came across as though he were addressing his students.
June 10, 2014
Excellent book on the "meta-level" ideas about preaching with gems of practicality sprinkled in throughout.
October 25, 2014
I made a sincere effort to read this book, but I found it to be overly basic. After a while, it got to be redundant and a distraction in itself.
February 24, 2016
A very helpful book! I especially appreciated his insights on the distracted preacher, the distracted congregation, and creativity that can spring from distraction.
March 16, 2017
Great resource for preachers. Makes you think through issues you may not have been taught about in Seminary.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews