Rewiring Your Preaching, Richard Cox, IVP, 2012

Cox’s book helps people understand “the latest neuroscientific knowledge…to help those who preach understand how their words are translated into meaning, meaning into decision and decision into action” [or disciplemaking] (pp. 18-20).  He notes the importance of making connections within the brain – especially in the areas of symbols.  This has implications for new church plants that are often conducted in secular space. “Symbols [such as a large open Bible, communion, the pulpit, vestments, a baptismal font] are memory enhancers that anchor learning” (p. 44). He also describes the implications of neuroplasticity – the fact that the brain can be rewired – that it can “create new connections, set out on new paths and assume new roles” (p. 155).  This understanding is important for anyone who is involved in disciplemaking through teaching or preaching.  His practical list of 21 skills for great preachers is based on these understandings of the brain. Cox’s book is a very helpful and important read on many levels.

                                        M.L. Codman-Wilson, Ph.D., 8/15/13

Excerpts:

Listening and Learning

“Listening uses memory to experience the past in the present and to bring the future into the present before its time. Memory, coupled with new information based on perceived need is the engine that drives the brain to change” (p.25)…We must think of those who listen within the context of their perceived needs, their immediate desires and their current belief system” (p.46).

 “Repetition is the technique described for leading the people into understanding. The brain responds to repetition” (p. 35). People hear on the basis of past memories and experiences.  People decide by associating new choices with previous ones (pp.91, 92).

 

“Effective teaching requires as much sensory input as possible. The senses can be thought of as gates to the brain…When we hear, see, feel, taste and smell, all five sensory inputs into the brain are engaged. When we only hear, only one-fifth of the potential learning power is utilized” (p. 37).

 

“Through stories we connect with others, share the words, thoughts and feelings of the characters and provide the opportunity for moral lessons, catharsis and self-reflection…Stories are powerful tools for the work of neural network integration at a high level” (pp. 41). “The preacher needs to bring real life illustrations that take the word from the page to the heart”(p. 99).  

 

“The absolute core of all preaching must be to engage the thought processes that trigger the emotional underpinnings of personal reward…The mind responds to what is most urgent for survival, gratification and growth” (pp. 74-75).

 

“Something is remembered when incoming information is thoroughly and deeply processed and new information is put meaningfully and systematically with knowledge that is already well established in memory” (p.96). [Hence] “The minister would do well to employ symbols, object lessons, ritual and liturgy to make scriptural abstractions more concrete in both the biblically and nonbiblically conversant mind” (p.42).

 

“The brain accepts and stores information and makes it permanent in the process of engramming a hypothetical pathway in the brain created by new experiences and information. Those pathways become memory traces on which all information that follows is built” (p. 58).  “Faith is giving oneself to be controlled and remade by what commands trust and devotion…Negative (or positive) believe systems create neural pathways that lead to evolving emotional bases on which faith systems are built” (p. 69).

Neuroplasticity

“Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to rewire itself and thus restore the mind…Understanding is often a matter of the brain changing its neurological connections – that is, rearranging its switchboard” (pp. 146, 131).

“Preaching allows the brain to rethink, reorganize, reconnect and reconstruct itself as it creates new neurological pathways” (p.71).  “The brain need repetition, simplicity and consistency to create neural pathways capable of changing thought and behavior” (p. 137).

“Deep within the human person is a longing for wholeness – holiness, godliness, soul health…Both neuroscience and theology agree that to bring about a long lasting result, the very core of the person must be changed. Christians agree that those who believe in Christ are new creatures; indeed, their very core has changed” (p. 145).

 “Intense long-term contemplation of God and other spiritual values appears to permanently change the structure of those parts of the brain that control our moods, give rise to our conscious notions of self and shape our sensory perceptions of the world. Contemplative practices strengthen a specific neurological circuit that generates peacefulness, social awareness and compassion for others” (p.26).

Twenty-one Skills of Great Preachers

“Content, passion, prepared, limited use of notes, simple, short, convicting, confidence, conversational tone, story-telling, humor, pace (begin low, continue slow, rise up higher, catch on fire, sit down in the storm), eyes on audience at all times, varied intensity, movement (using whole body to preach), calling for a decision (if we wrap up a service without posing a question to be answered, a challenge or an invitation, we have left critical work undone (p. 89)), landing the message on the first pass, credibility in the preacher’s life, props, self-revealing (tell stories on themselves), fast on feet (work in surprises or interruptions in the service)” (pp. 102-105).