“Here’s the thing about proving skeptics wrong: They don’t care. They won’t learn. They will stay skeptics. The ones who said the airplane would never fly ignored the success of the Wright Bros. and went on to become skeptical of something else. And when they got onto an airplane, they didn’t apologize to the engineers on their way in Instead of working so hard to prove the skeptics wrong, it makes a lot more sense to delight the true believers. They deserve it, after all, and they’re the ones that are going to spread the word for you.” (Seth Godin)
Interesting.
In my preaching, I’ve really wanted to convince the skeptics, to win them over.
Meanwhile, believers have slowly been leaving.
Jesus urged His followed to look for the receptive, and to leave the resistant behind (Matthew 10).
If I aim to encourage and inspire believers, maybe God’s work in their lives will convince the skeptics.
To delight the true believers, not to give them what they want to hear but showing them the delights of what they believe!
What do you think?
Good question!!! I am not sure how it is technically different.
Having moved to a church plant setting, I do feel that the weight of my thinking and speaking has shifted towards those who may doubt or question it. It has made it harder for me to be certain of what I say, and this has made me more self-critical. These are not bad things, but the above quote made me wonder whether DESCRIBING the wonder of God’s love may be more inspiring than DEFENDING the wonder of God’s love to those who doubt it.
I do not want to ignore those who doubt, in fact I appreciate their honest struggle and doubt. But maybe instead of proving that resurrection is rational and possible and necessary, maybe I need to share my encounter with the resurrected Jesus, and leave the convincing to the Spirit.
It’s not either/or, but something inside of me is wondering whether I have been leaning too far in one direction…
Just wondering.
My question in return would be how is it different. I hear the questions of the critics or skeptics or the positions of other belief systems all the time. For me preaching that addresses these issues helps me wrestle with and strengthen my faith. It gives me a more solid footing on which to stand as I live in a culture in which it is increasingly becoming more difficult to live out my faith in even the day to day decisions I make. It gives me a dose of encouragement that allows me to give an answer for what I believe in. Thanks to for that beautiful illustration of the Millionaire Father what a simple yet profound way to illustrate the complexity of God the Father’s relationship with his diverse children.