What do you use when you preach?
I was reading this post the other day at Youthmin.org by Austin Walker on how to preach from a tablet. It made me think, is preaching from a tablet cool, or useful? I wrote a post a while ago called, 5 Ways To Become A Better Speaker. The main emphasis of the article is that simplicity is the key when preaching. I love sticking to simplicity when speaking. I personally know if I make it complicated, some aspect of the sermon won’t come off as planned.
I have seen a few people preach with an ipad and it has been a disaster. I think this is why it is important to preach/speak with no notes, or devices. If you can also use a few slides (limit to 5) that is the best. I am not the greatest speaker, but I do think that I have learned a ton from gifted preachers in my church. Yes, I am spoiled to have a Homiletics professor in my church.
Here are some reasons why I think you shouldn’t use a ipad or tablet the next time you preach:
Use no notes. Once you preach a sermon without notes you will never go back. There is something about knowing the content and then being comfortable to preach it to a room full of people with out distractions. Being able to drive a point home without stumbling on a device is worth taking the time to memorize/internalize the whole thing.
Use a Bible people can see. Call me old fashion, but I love using a Bible when I preach. I don’t use my iphone, or an ipad (both of which have multiple translations on it). I tend to think the less things I have, the less distracted people will be. For me, when someone gets up there and preaches with an ipad, I ask the question: Is that a ipad, or ipad 2?
With that said, I have had great lectures from professors who teach from ipads. I think the setting for teaching is a great place for ipads. Personally, I would not preach from an ipad because I bet something crazy would happen like my mom would try to skype/facetime me, or an alarm would go off for some random reason, or a teenager thinking it was funny would facebook me to hear the notification that I received a new message.
What do you use when you preach?
