Who is the hero of your sermon?
If I’m not careful, I can make my parishioners out to be the hero of the sermon. Essentially, the sermon could sound like this: You’re struggling in life. God can help. And once God helps, you’ll live the life you’ve always wanted to live!
This sounds a lot like the hero’s journey: Life is going well. Something makes like not go well. A guide/mentor comes along to help. Life is even better than before.
The hero’s journey is pervasive throughout Hollywood, but can you see the problem with this? The hero is your hearer; the story revolves around them. But that’s not the gospel. The gospel doesn’t put us at the center; it puts the Triune God at the center.
Instead of preaching a “Hero’s Journey” sermon, what if God was the center of the sermon? What if the sermon looked more like this: God is ruling and reigning. He invites you to participate in the transformation and redemption of the world. You experience the brokenness that needs to be transformed and redeemed. Here’s how you can join God in that work.
Not every sermon has to follow that kind of format, but it offers an alternative to the Hero’s Journey sermon that distorts the good news of God.