Dolly Parton Couldn't Save the Sermon Series Built on Her

In 2022, a church in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood spent five weeks preaching a series called "The Gospel According to Dolly." Not five minutes borrowing an illustration. Five full Sundays, each one built around a different Dolly Parton song, until the illustration became the message.

I understand the instinct. Attendance is down, the culture's moved on, and somebody on staff thinks a familiar name in the sermon title will get people back in the pews. But if the Bible needs Dolly Parton to stay relevant, you've already decided the Bible isn't enough on its own. That decision gets made quietly, long before anyone puts it in a sermon title.

Paul told Timothy that all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, "that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." He didn't leave room in that verse for a celebrity or a movie or a cultural moment to finish furnishing what Scripture left unfinished.

An illustration is a window. It's supposed to let more light onto the text, not replace the text as the light source. The moment a preacher needs the culture to open the door before the Bible can walk through it, he has quietly told his congregation which one he actually trusts.

Pastors, your people don't need you to be interesting. They need you to be faithful. Preach the book. It was sufficient before Dolly Parton was born, and it's still sufficient now that she's gone.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." — 2 Timothy 3:16

Pastor Fortunato
Founding Pastor & Preacher of the Word.
Pilgrim Baptist Church — Cookeville, Tennessee

https://pilgrimbaptist.church/
https://www.sermonaudio.com/solo/pilgrimbaptist/