SNOOZE-FEST

To get some context for today’s blog, please read yesterday’s blog.

First off, I completely agree with one of our ANONYMOUS responders to yesterday's writing, that preaching doesn’t save anybody.  Neither do drams or videos or songs.  That’s a work of the Holy Spirit every day, all day.

Having said that, a lot of preaching these days is flat out boring.  I know I put myself out on a limb when I say that because people might think that about my preaching (and that’s not an open door for you to either agree by stating it here or by showering praises my way).

Jesus told stories.  It’s a large portion of how He communicated.  ‘Did ya hear the one about ... ‘ He says on many occasions.  He used examples and illustrations that everybody in the crowd understood --- about vines - mustard seeds - leaven - He picked up a stick and wrote on the ground - He gathered mud and put it on a guy’s eyes - He asked for a coin from the crowd so He could make His point - and on and on and on.  To say that Jesus would only tell stories today thru spoken word if He were here seems a huge stretch.  To capture the attention of unbelievers like Jesus did, we must communicate spiritual truth the way He did.  Jesus is our model for preaching, not Paul or Peter or the early church leaders, not Aristotle or Jonathan Edwards or Billy Graham.  Jesus is.

I’ll communicate with anything that will help me tell the story better -- a drama, a video, a song, an illustration, a prop, someone’s testimony -- but only if it truly enhances the communication and says something I might not be able to say with my own voice.  There’s a boundary there, and I’m still trying to find the foolproof one.  Sometimes I miss it, but lots of things work lots of times.  The container changes; the message stays the same.

It seems that over the years the things people remember best and most are the stories.  Stories stir emotions.  They impact us in ways that information never will.  The Holy Spirit uses the stories - the dramas - the music - the videos - the speaking -- all of it.  Long after a three-point outline is forgotten, people remember the rock - or the ladder - or the pottery - or the flour - or the story.

' ... If we would just yell a little more, people would get the message.'

Some people think if we would just yell a little more, people would get the message.  ‘Beat us over the head, PK, we can take it.  Scream at us a little.  We like that actually.’  Some day I’ll get why that is.  It’s gotta come from something traumatic that happened to those people in their childhood.  Like Rick Warren says: “Some preachers try to YELL IT LIKE IT IS,” but preaching louder or with more neck veins popping isn’t the solution.  Still, I want to be passionate about what I do.  Hopefully I am.  (That isn’t another thing for you to affirm or deny here.)

Jesus’ goal was to transform people, not merely inform them and certainly not to berate them.  “What are you going to give me today that I’ve never heard before, PK.  I need something new.”  I don’t know.  Personally, I’m still working on getting the Ten Commandments and most of Ephesians working right in my life.  I figure when I’ve got 80% of that down, I’ll worry about something I’ve never heard before.  Until then, I have plenty to do.  Probably the same with you.

People searching for God aren’t asking us to change the message of Jesus or dilute it.   They want us to tell them how it applies to their lives.  When we do that, they become intensely interested.

I’ve heard plenty of church leaders and church people say: “We’re not here to entertain.”  But in a Gallup poll done a few years back, unbelievers listed church as the most boring place on the planet to sit for an hour.  I think every communicator has a goal to capture and hold the attention of the crowd.  We shouldn’t be afraid of being interesting on purpose - and we shouldn’t be afraid of using whatever is at our disposal in order to be.

To a world desperately seeking something to give their lives meaning and purpose, dull communicating is just about the worst thing we can offer them.  Truth delivered poorly is ignored.  Some people have a gift for taking the most thrilling Book known to man and working it into a 30-minute Snooze-fest (again, please neither confirm nor deny that where I am concerned).  But doesn’t anybody think THAT’S a sin - to bore people to death?  I’m just asking.

Go ahead and take your shots.  I am fully armored.

And be blessed.