I’m the son of a preacher man.
And it’s inevitable that some of that preachy vibe rubs off on the offspring, whether from the genetics or from the, y’know….preaching.
So I have sometimes noticed that about myself down the years. Never really liked it, even as a believer, and I’ve generally tried to avoid being it and doing it. Nobody likes to be preached at. Well, I suppose the exception might be those people who go to the church or the mosque every week. And even then my anecdotal evidence would suggest that many if not most of the sermon listeners are either disagreeing internally, or not really listening.
No pulpit or position ever invented makes the person who stands in it, or holds it, the bearer of truth. Nor does it give them authority over anybody. Authority is an arbitrary thing that we hand out to people. Or they hand out to themselves. Sometimes it seems fitting. Many times not.
And it seems that many of the worse things that happen in the world, happen when “TRUTH” is used as a weapon to attack, or a wall to keep out, or as a reason to look down upon.
But it doesn’t have to be:
“This is the truth. Believe or be damned!”
Why not just appeal to our listener’s imaginations?
We’d all rather be volunteers than automatons, right?
If we have an idea to share, a simple “What If We Tried It This Way?” is a far better way forward because it puts the power in our hands. `
And I can tell you that with absolute, one hundred percent, certainty.
Or be damned!