If you love to communicate God’s Word to people, you have a high calling with high responsibility (James 3:1). Any good teacher or preacher will have to overcome barriers from the audience that will attempt to hinder their ability to effectively communicate. Here are six barriers an audience can put up to a preacher or teacher:

1. Experiential – People have had a bad church or teaching or preaching experience, and you’re having to overcome someone else’s bad teaching and preaching. This is a barrier because these folks are likely not in the room at all.

2. Cultural – People and culture are turning away from God as a whole. There’s a rejection of absolute truth and a promotion of “tolerance”. These folks may sit in the room but they’re in the back with their arms folded. They’ve already said “no” to whatever you’re selling.

3. Knowledgeable – People don’t know Scripture that well, they weren’t raised in church, or were raised with misinformation about the Bible. It’s far too easy to speak over their heads, leaving them clueless. 

4. Distractional – People have too many other things screaming for their attention. They’re in the room but they’re on their phones, thinking about what’s next, distracted by something going on the room. For many, people are distracted from what you’re teaching because they are overwhelmed by the unaddressed pain in their lives. 

5. Personal – They don’t think whatever you’re teaching applies to them. They don’t think they need help. Pride affluence and arrogance all pour into this. They are the ones sitting in the room but they don’t have ears to hear. Their hearts aren’t open to hear your message.

6. Spiritual – Satan has blinded their eyes. They have bought into lies about God, themselves and others. They simply don’t get the truth of Scripture you are attempting to communicate.

Barriers are obviously difficult to overcome but they are absolutely overcomable through the power of God’s Spirit!