Sermons shouldn’t last longer than 10 minutes, says the Pope. Is he right?

There are certain subjects which really animate Christians.

Godwin’s law states that, if left to run, any discussion on the internet will descend into someone making a comparison to Hitler or the Nazis. My own theory is if you put ten Christians in a room to discuss the Bible, it won’t be long before a heated debate is taking place on freewill versus predestination.

Sometimes the matters of disagreement among us are seemingly more mundane. The quality of post-church coffee. Where to put the chairs. The appropriate length of a sermon.

That last one has been of deep concern to Pope Francis lately. In fact, he can’t seem to stop talking about it! On at least five separate occasions in recent years (and most recently at the beginning of this month) he’s pleaded with priests to keep their homilies to “eight to ten minutes”.

Is he right? Yes, and no. And also, it depends. Let me explain.

He’s right

The Pope isn’t the first preacher to recognise that attention spans are getting shorter. This results in a strong pragmatic argument - if someone is bored out of their brain, not taking in a single word you’re saying, then what’s the point in droning on? Better to keep your message brief in the hope it’ll be heard.

Your analogies are subservient to scripture, not the other way around

Blasé Pascal famously said: “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” I’ve found this logic to be true when preparing sermons (and writing articles). It takes greater effort to be brief and hone your points. But it’s an important discipline for any communicator to develop.

The Pope reckons that in order for your message to be effective, it must have: “one idea, one sentiment, and one invitation to action.” I think he’s right. I’ve heard plenty of sermons that have contained five or more points. They’ve tended to last as long as 45 minutes, or even an hour. Typically, I can’t remember most of the ideas contained in sermons of that length, let alone what I’m supposed to do as a result.

He’s wrong

But does being able to recall a sermon after it is spoken actually matter? I know people who came to faith through Billy Graham’s preaching. Most of them can’t remember exactly what the great preacher said. Who cares? Graham’s message, inspired by the Holy Spirit, resonated with them enough to bring them to faith. It’s what happened in the moment that mattered.

I like the encouragement John Hosier gives to preachers: “Most people won’t remember most of your points, but don’t worry; they don’t remember most of the meals they’ve eaten either, but they’ve all done them good.”

Is hearing the Word of God clearly expounded in the moment enough to ‘do me good’ without needing to recall the detail of it later that week? I think sometimes it is. Too often, we underestimate the significance of hearing truth expounded.

We live in a world where most Christians spend far more time watching television than they do reading their Bibles or praying. I say this not to judge, but to point out that if you believe that films, TVs, podcasts and newspaper articles have the ability to form you spiritually (often to your detriment), then sitting under the Word of God for an hour on a Sunday and making an effort to really listen may help counteract the ungodly, worldly messages you’ll hear during the rest of your week. 

It depends

One of the reasons the question of sermon length is so hotly debated is the Bible itself doesn’t provide a straightforward answer. Some of Jesus’s parables lasted 30 seconds. Paul preached for so long (he “talked on and on”, says the Bible) that one poor chap was sent to sleep and fell out of the window (Acts 20:9). The book of Hebrews, thought by some to have originally been a sermon, clocks in at 45 minutes whereas the Sermon on the Mount may have taken just 12 minutes. I can’t prove it, but my guess is the reason God is silent on the best sermon length is that it depends. It varies from context to context, or sermon to sermon.  

One of my favourite preachers was David Pawson. He was in his 80s when I invited him to speak at our university Christian Union. Forget ’cultural relevancy’. Pawson had nothing to offer in that department. But as he opened God’s word, the room was held in rapt attention for an hour. He had a remarkable ability to communicate complex ideas in plain English and never waste a word. My fellow students quite literally begged me to invite him back.

If someone is bored out of their brain, not taking in a single word you’re saying, then what’s the point in droning on?

I can say with certainty that if I tried to speak for as long as Pawson, the reaction would have been very different (likely more in line with Acts 20:9)! Not every preacher is gifted enough to hold people’s attention for an hour, in fact I’d argue the vast majority just can’t do it. The challenge, then, for preachers, is to know your limit.

‘It depends’ isn’t meant to be a cop-out answer to the question of how long a sermon should be. If you want proof of that, just look at the Pope’s own behaviour on the matter. The more strident Pope Francis has been about limiting sermons to ten minutes, the more delight Vatican journos have taken in timing the Pontiff’s own messages. In the process they’ve discovered, slightly awkwardly, the Pope has been known to preach for as long as 20 minutes. Rather than see this as a mistake, or worse, hypocrisy, I like to think it demonstrates the need for preachers to be flexible. Even if ten minutes is the appropriate length for most messages, there will be exceptions to the rule.

And finally…

How do you know a sermon is going to last at least another 20 minutes? Answer: the speaker has just uttered the words, “And finally…”.

But, dearly beloved, there is one last thing I’d like to say. Because the Pope hasn’t just been remarking on the length of sermons, he’s got some advice on the content – and it’s worth heeding, whatever your churchmanship.

“Preachers must not preach about themselves, but about the Gospel”.

I couldn’t agree more. And I take this as a rebuke for the times I’ve got a little too caught up in my own stories, analogies and object lessons. Stick close to the text. That’s where the power is. Your analogies are subservient to scripture, not the other way around.

Preachers have a unique opportunity – to say something which carries far more weight and holds so much more meaning than almost anything else their congregation has heard that week. What an incredible opportunity. Let’s make it count this Christmas.