Cluster Criticism: Short Sermon with 3 Million Views

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUQYJ77qa50

This very short sermon can be found on YouTube. It has been viewed over 3 million times. I believe this has been widely popular due to these facts: The message is straight to the point, delivered in a modern and creative way, and the person rapping goes against the stereo type of typical rappers, she is a white woman. My criticism is that if you are not familiar with pop culture, than you will not get much out of this because she mainly uses references to it. It is directed at a specific audience, people who are age 20 something’s and younger.

The key terms in this One Minuet Sermon are GONNA (going to), EVERY, NEED, and YA (you). Those are the most frequently used. At first, I wanted to go back into the text and take out the word gonna because I thought it was not a very meaningful word. But, I realize that it is a significant part of the text because it is an action that prefaces most of the nouns.

The first thing she says is, “To be a survivor in this amazing race with the need for speed you need God’s grace.” She is setting the stage for the words to follow. Throughout her sermon she references an abundance of pop culture that we are constantly going for. We are running towards these things in our race.

Words that support GONNA are WASTE, OPRAH, NONSTOP, DESPERATE, WANNA, WITHOUT, AND STUPID. These fall into the Pop Culture cluster.

Words that support NEED are ONE HOPE, CHOOSE, GRACE, LIFE, FORGIVEN, SEE, WINNER, COUNCIL, AND TRUTH. These fall into the Call to Action cluster.

Most of the other words fall into those categories of Pop Culture and Call to Action words. In the sermon, she talks mainly about the negative things that we are going and doing. A majority of the words in the clusters are Pop Culture. Because she covers a lot of ground in short time words are not repeated frequently.

These clusters are opposites. Each is leading to a different direction and end point. The negative connotation that goes along with the words in the Pop Culture cluster suggests that cluster is not going to win the “race” or lead you to “God’s grace.” The cluster of Call to Action words will take you to the finish line.

The wordle placed the words ONE HOPE in medium size letters right next to NEED. This is ironic because this is what we actually need, the one hope, not the latest TV shows.

Metaphor is used throughout this sermon frequently. She uses pop culture references into a sentence with meaning. Like the first line, “to be a SURVIVOR in this AMAZING RACE” both are popular TV shows, but she gives them a different meaning.

In the sentence “No American Idol or Council tribe has a final answer that will satisfy ya,” she implies that we watch these TV shows to fill a void within us. She is speaking to a direct audience who knows and can relate to the television shows she is speaking of.

Although she only says it once, she uses a Call to action phrase “you must choose.” What must we choose? To either follow the Pop Culture cluster or the Call to Action cluster. 

A Neo-Aristotelean Critique: Momentum

Brian Houston of Hillsong Australia Church gave a sermon titled Momentum on August 29, 2010 and it is currently available for free on iTunes as a podcast.

The main message Houston preached is that Christians need to have a Holy Momentum about their life.

Brian Houston is trained in his theology and is a trusted leader of the church. He has 30years of leadership and ministry experience. He is a sought after speaker nationally and internationally. His sermons are given directly to those who are sitting in his church on a weekly basis. These people are used to hearing him speak and many know him on a personal level. His message is geared toward Christians and members of Hillsong Australia church. 

The interesting thing is that he also has these on podcasts and they are listened to by people around the world who are not part of his church. So, even though he does not acknowledge those hearing the podcast, people are still motivated, challenged, and encouraged because keep coming back to listen.

Houston goes from an even tone to a yelling and very excited tone. But, specifically in Momentum, he started on a passionate note. The congregation responds verbally. You can either hear them clapping, laughing, or in focused dead silence.

His sermon is logical and I would go as far as to even say that the logos are that his teachings are biblical and his sermon is based on the Bible, which is truth.

Houston has a rhythm to his sermons. They take the shape of a conversation. In Momentum, the rhythm moves from the reading of scripture, to an explanation, then application to either the church as a whole or to the individual and then back to scripture.

This organization keeps the audience engaged and it also keeps his words credible because he always comes back to scripture. In the context of a church, keeping scripture at the heart of the sermon is important. Also, explanation of the scripture keeps people of all different levels of understanding on the same page. Applying it to the church acknowledges that this is not personal devotion time, but corporate worship. Then, bringing it to the personal level helps members of the church to see how they can apply it to their daily lives also, which in turn, affects the church as a body. This part may be what keeps podcast subscribers listening.

His language is basic and not hard to understand. He used personal story to convey and reiterate the message. His sermon was also short, it was 19 minutes long. He was straight to the point.

The speech was given in a mega church. Being that I did not watch him give it, it is unknown whether he had this memorized or used an outline. He is being filmed and is shown on larger screens in the sanctuary.  At one point, Houston tells the audience to look at him in the big screen because he is looking at them in the eyes and he is talking to them. From the way he speaks energetically I can picture him doing the same with his body and maybe moving around the stage and using his hands to talk, but this is just an assumption.

Each week he delivers a sermon to a congregation and those words he spoke continue to resonate not only in their minds but also in the minds of Christians around the globe because of the availability of them on iTunes. Although Houston’s sermons are powerful and listened to by many one must ask, “Are the people in his church heeding those words and being transformed by them? Are the people allowing God to move in them and challenge them? Is the way he delivers his sermons with a direct tone and style producing the kind of results he hopes for? The evidence of the growth of his church leads me to believe that yes, each of these things are happening. But, I think it would be interesting to actually interview or survey the members to see if they are applying what they hear to their lives.