How to Preach in Today's Culture: 7 Relevant Ideas to Reach People Today

Is Your Preaching Reaching Today's Audience?

How should culture shape our preaching? That feels like a loaded question, doesn’t it? For many of us, the instinctive response is to turn to Hebrews 13:8:

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

This passage is powerful, no doubt. But while it speaks to Jesus's unchanging nature, it doesn’t address how we should share His message in a constantly changing world. A quick look through Scripture reveals a multitude of ways truth is communicated, tailored to the situation and the audience.

Change isn’t the enemy here—irrelevance is.

A truth that feels irrelevant is still true, but it’s also still irrelevant. Let’s take a few moments to explore how our culture has shifted over the last few decades and what that means for how we communicate the truth.

The Medium Shapes the Message

It’s been said that the medium of communication often shapes culture more than the content itself. Marshall McLuhan famously stated, "The medium is the message." This idea has profound implications for how we share the gospel today.

Consider the first alphabet—the Phoenician writing system—where symbols corresponded to sounds. This innovation didn’t just change communication; it transformed culture, enabling the preservation and transmission of knowledge across generations and borders. The printing press did something similar in the 15th century, radically democratizing information and reshaping society.

The telephone, radio, and television each followed, further shaping how we perceive, think, and interact. These mediums didn’t just convey information—they molded the very culture they served.

The Internet’s Cultural Bombshell

And then came the internet, the most transformative medium yet. Since the 1990s, it has decentralized information, revolutionized communication, commerce, education, and entertainment, and even created a global culture.

But with this incredible power comes significant challenges. As Nicholas Carr highlights in his book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, our minds now process information in short, disjointed bursts. The days of deep, focused thought seem to be fading, replaced by a need for speed and efficiency.

This shift in how we think and process information has profound implications for the church. While we’ve adapted to new technologies for delivering sermons, the content and structure of our messages often remain unchanged—stuck in the 1700s.

It’s time to rethink our approach.