We shot some video of Christian cynics telling us what might interest them in a sermon. Check it out at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO2A3ANjLo0
George Barna's work, published last year in the book entitled Revolution, indicates that a growing number of Christians are burned out on church and also on preaching. So, the challenge to make the Sunday morning message interesting and relevant has increased because of the predisposition of many listeners to tune you out before you even get started.
What has worked in your experience with cynical listeners? Have you discovered any key approaches that seem to connect with the burned-out-on-church crowd?
If you're a cynic, what would connect positively with you?
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OK, I was a bit lost, I thought this was interviewing people who were burnt out and therefore did not go to church anymore. The people interviewed are seminarians who go to church or people being interviewed at Evangel Temple. Did I miss something?
DAV...
The video was geared more towards asking Christians what appeals to them in a sermon from a cynical point of view.
Growing up in the church (like me) can cause quite a bit of this cynical attitude towards 'preachers' because we often get a 'been there heard that' mentality.
What would appeal to you DAV?
I'm wondering is "preaching" to cynics is the way to reach them with the gospel at all. Traditional preaching may not be the right approach. I think cynics need to be in a personal friendship with a believer, who can then be a Christ-like witness to the individual. Without that context, I'm not sure what kind of preaching would do any good, other than honest, biblical preaching that allows the text to speak for itself, giving God's Spirit a chance to change people's minds.
someone who embodies 2 corinthians 5.
holiness above charisma. eternality above temporality. truth above approval. a sermon that rattles the false hopes and fallacious thinking/theology of this world by digging deeper than behavior modification and borrowing to the issues of the conscience and heart through the offense and redemption of scripture.
sermons that push for transformation or 'better Christian living' through moral makeovers and tune-ups don't appeal to me. we don't need a better life, we need a cross. we need a resurrection.
the question people probably look for to be answered in the prsentation of a preacher, 'what worth is this jesus really to him or her over what i think is best for me?'
passion appeals to me but obsession convinces me, someone so love smitten by the gospel they preach they are not so civilized.
"For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us...he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves."
I didn't get from Barna that people are sick of preaching. I think his book puts forth the idea that people are sick of a cultural form of Christianity, that is probably preached as the norm, that does not exhibit itself as transformational. It is a powerless gospel followed by individuals who in no way represent the namesake of their faith.
So what connects with cynics? I think a gospel, that transcends simple mental agreement to a set of facts, but which requires the laying down of a life, connects.
In my opinion, too many preachers lay down religious, legalistic and or dogmatic stumbling blocks which prevent people from ever getting to Jesus and the cross. If they stumble over the cross? Great. If they stumble over our dogma, shame on us.
Gary Black
I aplaud the idea of this new vehicle for discussing preaching. Unfortunately, I have difficulty right out of the gate with the statement:
"we believe the life of the church is largely shaped by preaching"
I pastor a house church focusing on military men and women between the ages of 18 and 25.
The traditional concept of a 25-45 minute sermon on Sunday morning shaping the life of the church is unsettling to me.
In "The Second Coming of the Church" George Barna said "Today's Church is incapable of responding to the present moral crisis. It must reinvent itself or face oblivion by mid-21st century."
Traditional preaching "at" people from a pulpit isn't going to cut it anymore. Without a relational base, preachers really have no platform from which to really speak into the lives of congregants.
I don't believe that the life of the church is shaped by preaching. If the life of the church is being shaped correctly it is being shaped by Jesus Christ.
Jesus said "If I am lifted up I will draw all people unto myself." Our jobs, as those who proclaim the Gospel message, is to lift up Jesus Christ so that Jesus can draw people who hear us to Himself.
john,
I appreciate your input. But I think anytime something takes on the moniker of a "movement" they are in dire straits and it's probably the beginning of the end of the "movement." I suspected Barna's book would stir up a lot of angst for those looking for a reason to split from local, larger churches. Although I am not making a statement about your group, I think by and large, the house churches I have visited are filled mostly with malcontents with a beef against or an injury from a traditional church. I'm glad these house churches are a place people can go to get the healing they need. But at some point an organization has to decide to be for something more than they are against something else in order to be sustainable.
At it's best preaching is revealing the truth. At it's worst, well... it's just horrific and damnable at it's worst. But if we can set aside personalities and methods in preaching for a second, proclaiming the truth and hope of Christ to anyone is a significant and profound act. Where ever it is done, for how ever long to whomever desires to listen. You are right. Today's church is incapable of reaching the 21st century. Just as every generation of churches before us was incapable of reaching its generation. But neither the home church movement, nor the mega church movement is going to change that. Only the word of hope and life, proclaimed by disciples of Jesus, will penetrate the hearts and transform the souls of humankind. That is what will reach the 21st century. We just can't escape that. It's really non-negotiable in my understanding of the mission of God revealed throughout scripture.
But that's just my opinion..... I could be wrong.
Gary,
I agree with you.
I've been a pioneer pastor for most of my 35 years of ministry. The majority of the time my ministry has been in my home. Not because I ever thought of myself as part of a movement, it was just the way the Lord led me.
When I first learned about George Barna's book "Revolution" and read it, I was pretty impressed with his assessment. He usually bases his books on some pretty solid research.
I also subscribe to his weekly online update. And in one of those he highlighted the house church movement (I didn't even know there was such a thing). I went to the web site he recommended and began posting on their bulletin board and interacting with other people's posts.
I thought perhaps this was a movement I could become associated with. Sort of a place to find fellowship with like-minded people.
It didn't take long before I noticed that most of the people were vehemently anti-church, and anti-pastor, and anti-organization. But it puzzled me that they were all arguing the same points and saying the same things. I thought it was pretty wierd. Everytime I tried saying something positive I got three out of four people responded with hostility. It became an effort in futility.
So I decided to do some research and purchased and read most of the books that were recommended on the web site. Wow! Did I get an ear full! I knew where all of the people posting on the web site were getting their beliefs and vehemence from.
I knew that wasn't for me! There was more promotion of "house church movements" for the sake of the house church movement than for the sake of winning people to Jesus Christ.
I have since distanced myself from any association with the "house church movement" because I find much of its operating concept has some serious flaws and is actually contradictory to the Scriptures.
I briefly reviewed the books I read in my doctoral dissertation. I found some very interesting parallels between the attitudes expressed by authors of the house church movement literature, and the the mega church and church growth movement literature. Both seem intent on criticizing the small church and the small church pastor.
My concern is that the focus of our preaching has shifted away from being Christocentric to being Theocentric. As a result, the message has been changed away from bowing the knee at the cross of Jesus Christ, making Him the "center" or Lord of our lives, and calling people into a personal relationship with Him.
Working with 18 to 25 year old young adults from a variety of denominational backgrounds, including the Assemblies of God, I find the Christology of the majority of them almost non-existant. They can talk about "God" all day long, but when I attempt to get them to talk about Jesus Christ, their silence is deafening!
The confusion becomes even more evident when I hear Assemblies of God young people share testimonies of "accepting God as their Savior" and never acknowledging that they mean Jesus Christ.
The marginalization of Jesus Christ, the loss of the "center" (i.e. Jesus Christ) in the evangelical and Pentecostal church is, in my opinion, a freightening capitulation with postmodernism.
I have noticed some Churches who deal with lots of Cynics just provide doughnuts and coffee in the sanctuary during service. Seems to be a win-win situation almost every time.
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