The Linear Model of Communication and Preaching
The Linear Model of Communication and Preaching
This post is a continuation of a series in which we explore what we can learn from advertising that will make our preaching more impactful. In this post we consider the linear model of communication and preaching and the challenges this model has for the modern preacher.
The Linear Model of Communication
The history of preaching and advertising (and news programs and education) have been shaped by the idea of linear communication. Here is a model of this kind of communication, described from the perspective of advertising.
There are several characteristics here that you will likely notice would apply to preaching as well. Note these things:
- It starts with a sender. In advertising, the sender of the message is the company that is trying to get you to purchase its product. In preaching, you, the preacher, are the sender.
- The sender then, through words or images, encodes a message that is intended to be received by the receiver.
- But first, it has to go through the noise of competing messages. The noise can be either internal or external.
- In advertising, there is feedback once the message has been received and decoded by the targeted receiver.
The Way It Was
Walter Conkrite
This model of communication dominated the culture here in the United States for many years. Think about it. From 1962 to 1981 Walter Cronkite delivered the news. America tuned in faithfully and got the message. Cronkite would end his broadcast by saying, “And that’s the way it is.” People assumed that he was the authority, and that he was faithfully giving the message for the day.
Education depends on this model of communication. When I was in college, I sat in my desk and faithfully took notes on the lecture that the “expert” in front gave to us.
Medicine followed this model of communication. The Doctor, the “expert” delivers his (usually it was a male) pronouncements, and patients are expected to follow their directions without questioning.
Compare this with the linear model of communication and preaching as we are talking about it. Preaching largely still uses this model for communication: an “expert”, the preacher, gives a monologue presentation that listeners take it in and apply it.
Advertising followed this model faithfully as well, and in many instances, still does.
The Linear Model of Communication and Preaching Today
Think with me about how the ideas of the world have changed, especially in relationship to the linear model of communication. Preaching in the past depended on the linear model. The preacher would faithfully interpret a passage in the Bible, then he would build a message made up of several parts (in my tradition, usually three “points”); He would then deliver the message, and the congregation would receive it. Such messages were deductive by nature.
Assumptions about the Linear Model and Preaching
Do the assumptions that we looked at earlier hold today? Let’s look at some of them.
- Authoritative person sending a message. That doesn’t always work well today. People lied to us enough in the media and by authorities, that we preachers, as part of the authoritative
group, are not as trusted as we once were. The many cases of pastors and priests abusing children hasn’t helped. Neither has the mistrust of the televangelists who rake in millions of dollars. - Noise often crowds out the message.
- Through modern technology, almost anyone can check the truth of a message. In the political culture of today, we even have fact checkers when our politicians speak, because they have often told mistruths.
What A Challenge!
In the next post, we’ll begin looking a how to address these great challenges in communication. For now, consider this description of the development of modern preaching methods.
Also, here’s a fuller explanation of the three types of communication for your ongoing thinking and reflecting.
