Saturday, March 14, 2009

How To Bore A Church

Over at Quiddity, Andrew Kern writes,

"How to bore a child: Try to entertain him.".

I would say the same applies to the church.

How to bore a congregation with God's word: Try to entertain them.

From my childhood I've heard many sermons, from Sunday mornings and evenings, to special speakers brought into the church for special evangelistic efforts. I've also spent most of my years attending Sunday School. What I've invariably found is that those who try to be funny throughout the sermon, or to make Sunday School "fun", end up being remembered as being entertaining, but not for the message from God's word they are trying to convey. Humor can be a tool to convey a point or put an audience at ease, but a constant stream of cleverness often just puts the focus on the speaker or teacher rather than on God.

Really, the Bible is truly fascinating enough if its message is clear and not clouded. Preached in love, intelligence, good will and good humor it will result in something real to hold onto - and a congregation engaged in real, exciting thought and action.

7 comments:

  1. I agree that sermons should not be so consumed with humor that believer missed the message of Christ. However, I believe some humor is good inasmuch if it helps a believer to relate and/or receive God's message. In my opinion, our culture has progressed to a less traditional, more relaxed form of worship. We are putting away our dresses and suits and replacing them with jeans and t-shirts. Because I still hold to the traditional styles, this transition is more difficult for me to embrace, however, I believe that God wants our heart not our suits or ties. This is why I believe that a little humor and other methods to deliver God's Words can be instrumental.

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  2. Hey Readic. I think we are in agreement here. I did note that humor has it's place and good uses. It's when the sermon becomes almost a stand-up comedy routine or a point can't be made without a funny story to accompany it that it becomes a problem.
    A question, Does not what we wear reflect something of our heart?

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  4. Yes and no. It depends on the person. Sometimes a person dresses according to society's expectations, not their heart. I'm sure there are men who don suit and tie for church services who'd much rather be playing golf.

    From what I recall, when it comes to attire Scripture instructs us it should be modest. Modesty can vary wildly from culture to culture, generation to generation, and situation to situation. Seems we're given some individual room for interpretation on that one....

    I have no problem with people spiffing up for church. But I also don't have a problem with those showing up in jeans and a tee. It's all a heart matter with God, anyway. :)

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  5. America is loosing a healthy fear of God. I expect she will regain it once a hunger for God sets in after living off of the spiritual scraps and junk food we mistake to be a feast leaves us emaciated.

    Dressing down to enter into God's house is a symptom of something direly wrong. I suspect it's because we have convinced each other God is only a good buddy and forgot He is an all consuming fire.

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  6. How much my way of life would change if I remembered that He is an all consuming fire!
    The real need to understand that God loves us has largely been met with a therapeutic god, rather than the Ancient of Days. Kyrie eleison.

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  7. In my opinion, I believe we should always give God our very best. This is not to suggest He would not honor casual attire or comfy clothes, if our heart is right. However, our love for Him should far surpass the love we have for a spouse, companion, or someone else special in our lives. If then we are quick to "doll up" or "dress up" to get the attention of another, shouldn't this be all the more for God?

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