As a husband and father, I learned this lesson in the most difficult way: the tone I speak really matters. It’s not enough to say the right words. I have to be very careful with the way I say things. A few years ago, my wife shared a heavy burden with me. After listening to her for a while, I quickly began giving her advice on what to do. But she looked at me remored. ” What’s wrong?” I asked. She said, Who are you now? My husband or my counselor ??. It was the first clue that I was missing something.
I quickly realized that while my solutions were correct, they were not useful. Because of my tone. The way I was talking actually weakened my message. As sure as I was, my tone was an obstacle along the way.
- Is it the same reality?Is the importance of tone related to our preaching?Is it possible that the way we say something in preaching and teaching is as important to the sermon as marriage.
- Fatherhood.
- Or any other communication?I suggest that the tone of preaching be much more important than we thought Philip Brooks (1835-1893) said that preaching is the truth through personality.
- I would add that preaching is also the truth through tone.
Let me offer you some suggestions thinking not only about what you mean, but also how to put it.
The first step is simply to read the scriptures and pay attention to their tone. The Bible is more than a collection of propositional statements. That’s true of tone. And there are many different tones: comfort (2 Corinthians 1), hardness (James 4. 4), lamentation (Psalm 13. 1-2), astonishment (Revelation 4), sarcasm (2 Corinthians 11. 1 2 19), instruction (Romans 12), joy (Exodus 15), research (Psalm 22. 1), difficulty (Lamentations 3), wisdom (Proverbs 1) and rest (Psalm 23), to name a few. The beauty of the Bible is, in part, in its variety of shades.
Those of us who are attached to meticulous exegesis (I hope they all are) would do well to watch closely as the author communicates his message. Understanding the tone should never replace a thorough examination of what the Bible says, but not understanding how saying something will greatly prevent the communication of the entire message. How would you receive this message, what would you hear?This is where reading the Bible aloud is most useful, as it can help us hear something we would lose if words were simply read and studied.
For example, the tenderness of Psalm 23 is very different from the tension of crying in Psalm 13. The tone of celebration of the Song of Moses in Exodus 15 is a different world from that of the dark surrender of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. Sovereignty in John 6 is personal, while in Romans 9-11 it is impetuous and complex. The genre and tone of the text are essential for the message and application of each text.
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