Do You Ever Talk to the Preacher After Church?
It is in my mind to discuss this strange phenomenon all preachers experience every week. It is that time after the worship service has ended and you are shaking people out the door. If I go back to the first time I ever gave a lesson to the general audience inside a church building I can say that I have entertained about 30 years of post-sermon foyer talks. “Foyer Talks”: It would be a really good book for an older preacher to write about. I would read that book. I want to know all about memorable preacher to person, person to preacher foyer talks after church.
There are some people who will NEVER have one of these conversations. In the building where I currently preach each Sunday, there are many exits and the no talkers flee to them at “amen” or even before. In my early preaching days, there were small country churches where I preached and often there was only one exit and it usually bottle-necked into the auditorium after worship. People expected at least a hello. They knew they had no way of escape!
There are some people who will ALWAYS want a handshake and a “how do you do.” In fact, if that doesn’t happen they might feel a little bit shunned or unimportant. The reality is that everyone just has a different personality. As a preacher and a Christian, I love every person the same and I pray for those to whom I preach and I also pray for myself. We need God to work in the communication and proclamation of His holy word. The preaching of the gospel message belongs to Him and we are all the beneficiaries.
When I was growing up I usually wanted to meet the preacher and tell him how he helped me, or make a comment to him about what he caused me to think about – maybe another verse that came to mind because of something he had said. In school I was always the one raising my hand in the classroom wanting to answer the question. Yes, I was annoying. But I am a communicator and it is needful for me to express at least some of what is going on in my head and heart. Otherwise, I am going to explode. It is one of the reasons why I preach. Like the Jeremiah of old, the word of God is like a fire in my bones and I get weary of holding it in (Jeremiah 20:9).
But this article is for both preachers and those who assemble to hear the word. I want to encourage you to have those post-sermon foyer talks. But I have some suggestions as to how they can be most beneficial.
For the preachers:
- Take time with each member. Let them talk until they are done. When I was a young preacher I would try to talk to everyone and try to move people along. I didn’t want anyone getting snubbed. But that actually made them all feel unimportant. The next person who wants to talk to you will wait if their attitude is healthy.
- Expect and invite criticism. You may have been passionate about your sermon and convicted about it, but I can assure you since you are the human element in it you definitely messed some of it up. The only time you were perfect was when you were reading straight from the text. And that wasn’t even you at all…that was God talking in that moment.
- When people say, “you had a good sermon” meet it with appreciation but pause. There was a lady who attended where I preached for several years who always told me that exact phrase as she went out the door. But once we had a guest speaker and she said the same thing to me when she left. I realized then that it was just her way of saying goodbye!
- Be thankful that anyone would want to talk to you after your sermon. You are nothing and God is everything and hopefully you didn’t confuse anyone enough to think differently.
For the listeners:
- Feel free to approach the preacher anytime you want. He needs your feedback. You may help him learn just as he was trying to help you learn. We are all in this together.
- Be honest. You can tell him his mistakes. I always like when people say I misquoted something or I called out the Scripture reference incorrectly. It means they cared enough to pay attention.
- You can even tell him you totally disagreed with something he said. You can tell him he was not his best or that it was just a bad sermon. On one occasion I was told about the same sermon by two different people, “That was the worst sermon you ever preached!” and, “That was one of your very best!”
- Be courteous of other people who want to speak to the preacher. The preacher is not in a hurry to end your conversation, but he is anxious about not getting to those who want to have a foyer chat. Just remember he is one person and there are many people who also want a turn.
- The preacher loves the church! He feels inadequate and humbled to proclaim the message. He wants to get out of God’s way. Help him by receiving the word with meekness and examining the Scriptures on your own to see if the things he said are true.
I was inspired to write this article based on something that happened to me this past Sunday night. It was after I had preached a sermon summarizing the epistle of James. I experienced my favorite post-sermon foyer talk of all time. A 15-year-old boy waited until I was done talking with everyone else and then talked to me about my sermon. He made some references to other passages he thought about at different times in my lesson. He shared some of his notes he took from the sermon with me. He proved to me that he was listening and engaged and trying to receive God’s holy message. He helped me remember why I get up there, why I study, why I pray and prepare and preach the gospel to those who will hear. I was so thankful.
Oh, and this young man wasn’t just anybody – he was my son.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another” – Colossians 3:16
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AUTHOR: Jeremiah Tatum
