Monday, August 21

Precision

Meet Chris and Di. I don't have a picture of them so you'll have to use your imagination.

They work in a fancy building in the city with an uninterrupted view of Table Mt. Di is a power dresser, but Chris is happy to get around in a fairly ordinary suit. They are both very nice and very smart.

Chris and Di are tax consultants. My Dad and I went to see them last week to work out how we could loose the least amount of money between Sydney and Cape Town. It was a productive meeting (for R1250 per hr you would want it to be) and they even threw in a free pot of nicely brewed coffee (free, if you ignore the R1250 per hr)

But what impressed me with Chris and Di was their precision. As soon as we started taking shop, they were in the zone. They took notes, made flow diagrams and quized us on even the little points. They were ultra careful with the words they used, never wasting them, but picking just the right ones from their tax vocab, to ensure they conveyed exactly what they meant.

I liked Chris and Di, and it croswsed my mind that they would make good preachers. Maybe you are not burnt by this, but lately I have heard preachers say stuff like,

" . . . so God's wisdom is Jesus, it's the gospel, it's our salvation!"



Well, which one is it?

A good clear message is like a snipers bullet, not random machine gun fire.

I'm not asking for uptight theological nitpicking, but a clear train of thought where the words are chosen becuase they have a punch, a specific meaning, and not just because they sound Christian.

Putting together a sermon like this is a lot harder, but far more satisfying and effective.
What do you reckon?

Scott

[I write this blog as someone who needs big work on this too. Just so you know]





3 comments:

Craig Tubman said...

you are so right.

but man, you've gotta
1. know the Word real well
2. know the culture you speak to real well
3. know the power of prayer real well

all of which I know you already know, but I wanted to add my two bob.

Scott said...

Amen! Spoken like a true preacher man!

Justin said...

Craig - you are right about one sniper bullet, three things to know and two bob.

:)

Scott -- I think we need to pray for strong and insightful decision making skills. i.e. I'm going to say this and not that.