Scripture is full of conflict: between God’s ways and our ways; in interpersonal relationships, and between nations. Sometimes the best way to begin a sermon is to invite our hearers into that conflict… to “start a fight” at the beginning of the sermon that somehow resolves by the end.
Here are 3 good uses of a “start a fight” introduction:
- To expose when we’ve made God in our own image: The way of Jesus is not something most of us follow reflexively… loving our enemies, aligning with the poor, forgiving those who hurt us. The disciples had it right when they said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60) In many cases, a “start a fight” introduction can shake loose our interpretations of Scripture that justify our misalignment with the way of Jesus.
- Example of a “start a fight” introduction that serves this purpose: “Why does Jesus seem to be so much less considerate of his family than many of us would be?” (Introduction for a sermon based on Matthew 12, about Jesus reframing the definition of “family”).
- To help congregants engage their problem-solving brains: Humans are problem-solving creatures: we feel most engaged when we can help solve a problem. But too often, sermons don’t ask this of us: they explain, but don’t invite us to make sense of the text. At their best, though, sermons teach congregants how to read the Scripture—including the troublesome passages. Instead of using a sermon as a “time of presentation,” the “start a fight” introduction can offer congregants a chance to feel, sort through, and press into the tension within the text.
- Example of a “start a fight” introduction that serves this purpose: “Sometimes, it seems like God has some bad ideas…” (Introduction for a sermon about how God “uses the foolishness of the world to shame the wise.” (1 Corinthians 1)
- To help tease out shades of meaning within a nuanced passage: Sometimes, passages are meant to disturb their hearers. Prophetic passages, in particular, are meant to help their hearers recalibrate their habits, dispositions, and actions to be faithful to God. Our sermons can do this, too—by exposing the tension within the text, and teasing out nuance and meaning, and setting our hearers (gently) “on edge with anticipation” for the good news present within God’s call.
- Example of a “start a fight” introduction that serves this purpose: “Churches have traditionally focused a lot on singing, and praying, and engaging in worship services that lift God up… but what if I told you that (even in our well-intentioned worship), we sometimes lift up to God an offering that he will not receive?” (Introduction to a sermon on Isaiah 1, in which God orders the Israelites to stop bringing sacrifices until they practice justice).
If you try out the “start a fight” introduction to your sermon, remember that the point isn’t to provoke your hearers to the point that they won’t receive the sermon; it’s to (as Eugene Lowry says), “upset the apple cart”—to help the congregation listen differently, and lean into the sermon with anticipation for how the gospel will be truly “good news,” even and especially when its call disrupts our typical ways of doing things.[1]
[1] Eugene Lowry, The Homiletical Plot
Rev. Ethan Linder serves as Pastor of Discipleship at College Wesleyan Church, and Communications Coordinator and Lead Writer at Education and Clergy Development.