The 5 C’s of the perfect illustration
1. Concreteness. You need to be concrete with your words. An abstract illustration is a contradiction in terms, yet dreadfully common. Use nouns that your congregation can picture. Don’t say, “big smile,” say “teethy grin.” Don’t just say “house.” What kind of house is it? A cottage, a Victorian, a Cape Cod, a tri-level?
2. Connotation. Getting a picture in their minds is not the goal, it’s a means to another goal: emotion. Start with the head in order to work toward the heart. Which sentence has more powerful connotation: “The little girl prayed reverently,” or, “The little girl softly folded her hands and bowed her head.” Which description makes you feel something?
3. Conflict. If a story is to be a story, it must have a problem. Your vivid descriptions and sentimental movements will float aimlessly without the gravity of a conflict that demands to be resolved. The more closely the conflict of your story corresponds to the issue in the passage you are illustrating, the more effective your illustration will be.
4. Conclusion. This will state how the problem of story was solved. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can never use tragedies for illustrations. The idea is to communicate the redemptive aspect of your story, which even tragedies have.
5. Connection. Here you unambiguously say how the illustration relates to your sermon. Surprisingly, too many preachers forget this part. How many times have you heard an illustration that pertained not a lick to the passage or the sermon? (I won’t ask how many times you’ve told such an illustration!)
An illustration that doesn’t relate to your lesson– no matter how funny or entertaining or interesting – is a waste of the precious minutes.
