The Power of Comparison: How to bring abstract concepts to life with effective metaphors & similes
The kingdom of heaven is like:
A mustard seed
Yeast
Treasure hidden in a field
A net thrown into the sea
Why do these similes work—and not work—for us to understand what the kingdom of heaven is like?
The answer is familiarity—and lack thereof.
Similes and metaphors work when they take something we are not familiar with or don’t understand and liken it to something we know.
Similes and metaphors work when authors know they can rely on their audience’s existing knowledge and life experiences to help them grasp a new or abstract concept.
In the case of similes about the kingdom of heaven, most of us are only somewhat familiar with the objects of comparison because of differences across cultures and eras.
Our memories of those objects might come from experience but more likely come from having learned about them.
Only some of us, for instance, have held mustard seeds in our hands or added yeast to flour when baking bread.
Fewer among us have searched for treasure buried in a field or worked in a commercial fishery and hauled up nets from the sea.
That’s why these similes work only in part for contemporary audiences: the objects are only somewhat familiar to us. We don’t truly understand their qualities to make clear connections to the Kingdom of God.
But they were highly effective for Jesus’s audience who were deeply familiar with those objects.
When preaching about these comparisons, we nearly always have to “explain the joke.”
We have to teach our listeners the qualities of the object in order for them to make the connections: the kingdom of heaven is like a fishing net because fishing nets are…
The best similes and metaphors don’t have to be explained because they are experienced.
The author recalls objects or experiences that are already familiar to the audience so they can rely on their existing knowledge to understand the unfamiliar.
For example:
“As dry as desert dust:” if you have experience with the desert and dust, you’ll understand the dryness.
“Calm as night:” if you have experience being awake during the quiet, still hours of the night, you’ll understand the calm.
“Denominational lines like stone walls” if you experience with stone walls (thick, cold, sturdy, hard), you’ll understand the implacability between groups who don’t trust each other.
Crafting effective similes and metaphors is one of the life-bloods to preaching that engages listeners and holds their attention.
These comparisons do the heavy lifting of explanation to help listeners grasp the strange, unfamiliar, otherworldly reality of God within the reality we know.
But coming up with new comparisons is not something many of us find easy, myself included.
Here are three routes to improve our ability to craft similes and metaphors that draw in our listeners.
1) Metaphor As…
This first route are exercises designed by the choreographer and author Twyla Tharp*.
Engaging these exercises helps loosen our imaginations and widen our vision so we notice metaphors more quickly.
Metaphor as Visual Translation
How many images and objects can you see in three minutes of cloud gazing?
Metaphor as Object or Task
While doing a “mindless” chore, like washing the dishes, try to become the rhythm of the process. What’s the rhythm of scrub, wash, or rinse? Hum the rhythm. Give it a name. What other “mindless” chores have a matching rhythm?
Metaphor as Aural and Visual Stimulus
Distill a mechanical sound and mimic it.
Metaphor as Curating
Find two works of art you can connect to each other. What is the connection? Is this what the creators intended, or are you seeing something they didn’t or perhaps couldn’t see? You are making the works your own by putting them together in new and interesting ways.
Metaphor as Empathy
Turn Narcissus around. Try to see another person in your image. Then reverse it and try to see yourself in that person’s image. Imagine your life if you had had that person’s wealth (or looks, or taste, or biases) or that person had yours.
2) Start with the Strange and move to the Familiar
We can also design metaphors by starting with the strange and linking it to the familiar.
Step 1: Brainstorm the emotions evoked and senses tickled.
For example, when I think of God as ever-present, it feels warm, lovely, inviting, and constant.
Step 2: Brainstorm objects that include one or more of those qualities.
For example:
An invisible friend is friendly and constant
The perfect temperature of a summer day is warm, inviting, and relaxing
My breath and heartbeat run on their own, all the time, whether or not I’m thinking about them.
3) Write those comparisons as metaphors and similes.
The companionship of God is like an invisible best friend.
The presence of God is a perfect summer day: warm and welcoming and waiting for your joyful entry.
The presence of God is as constant as breath.
Here’s another example.
When I think of the body of Christ I feel the strength of bonds that create a connection that is out of sight.
Brainstorm things that include those qualities. For example:
Fungi that unite trees in a forest
Dark matter that connects all things in the universe
The electricity that shoots between and connects neural pathways
Write those comparisons as metaphors or similes:
The body of Christ is like fungi that unite trees in a forest.
The body of Christ is like invisible dark matter that binds the universe.
The body of Christ is alive in the same way electricity races between our brain cells and causes our body, made of many parts, to work as one.
3. Start with the familiar and Move to the strange
We can also work the practice backwards: take a familiar object and liken it to something related to God.
Step 1: Brainstorm an object’s qualities.
For example, from where I sit I see a lightweight blanket.
Blankets:
Are made of fibers
Are flexible and malleable
Make me feel cozy
Provide warmth
Regulate temperature
Step 2: Brainstorm how God is like those qualities.
God surrounds us, caring for each of our unique needs
The presence of God can feel warm and cozy.
The fruits of the Spirit (patience, kindness, self-control) help regulate emotions
Step 3: Write those comparisons as metaphors and similes.
When we are in need, God wraps us with care as closely as a swaddling blanket.
When we need to rest, God supports us in letting down as surely as being wrapped in a soft, cozy blanket.
The fruits of the Spirit help us regulate our emotions like the right blanket helps regulate our temperature.
Conclusion
Follow these simple steps and you’ll create similes and metaphors that work, connecting the grace-filled, strange reality of God with the familiar world of your listeners.
Do you want your preaching life to be the same next year as it is right now?
Do you feel like you’re as effective and confident as you’d like to be in the pulpit?
Are you in a preaching and ministry rhythm that is sustainable for the next 5 years? 10? 20?
If so, carry on.
If not… I invite you to consider The Mentorship: 10 transformational months with 1:1 mentoring, small group camaraderie, focused and actionable sermon feedback, and quality tools/materials you can put to use for the rest of your ministry.
*Tharp, Twyla. The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life (p. 158-159). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.