on using illustrations

Craig Barnes makes a solemn point that all preachers know they need to think about. Writing about the use of illustrations he comments,

few things can be more subversive to the point of the biblical text than our efforts at illustrating it.

Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt. Alas.

By way of contrast, he mentions the use of images (noting along the way that "the Bible has very few illustrations, but it is filled with powerful images"). He writes,

Illustrations tell stories that exemplify the point of the text. Images embody the point.

(The Pastor as Minor Poet, pp.129,130)