It’s how you say it that makes the difference. We have seen many politicians on our TV screens recently making brave attempts to sound repentant (or otherwise) in order to save their skins.
The public seems to have got to a point where no politicians can be believed. Whatever they say and however sincerely they mean it, they have lost the ability to be credible. When leaders give their speeches, some are immediately captivating and others a complete turn off, whatever the substance of their message. Barack Obama has to be listened to whereas some leaders closer to home don’t even sound convinced by their own message.
Captivating Jesus
‘All we have to do is teach the Bible’, said one youth minister — I couldn’t agree more. Psalm78 reminds us of passing on ‘the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might, and the wonders he has done’ (Psalm 78.4). Jesus’s ability to captivate an audience shines through the pages of the gospels and Paul’s communication skills are beyond doubt. Talking to philosophers in a Hellenistic culture took some doing. If we say ‘just teach the Bible’, it could become a ‘get out clause’ which enables us to think that, as long as we are faithful to the text, we can speak it how we like. Now, of course, other Christian leaders have gone to the other extreme and they are all about wowing an audience with their eloquence, humour or delightfully warm personality but I wonder if that has pushed those of us, who know our prime directive is to teach about Christ from his word, to a place where we almost disregard who we are speaking to.
