Edutainment
The communication guru, Marshall McLuhan, once said, "Anyone who thinks education and entertainment are different doesn't know much about either." That statement got me thinking about preaching.
When I was in seminary I took a lot of learning theory classes because one of my master's degrees was in the field of education. I'm not even sure why I went into that degree program, but it really laid a foundation for the way I preach. I don't want to spend twenty hours a week preparing messages that people will forget in twenty minutes!
I have a communication conviction: the most important truths ought to be communicated in the most unforgettable ways!
Jesus set the standard with his parables. Pure genious! You hear his parables once and you remember them forever. Why? Because his stories weren't just truthful. They were entertaining. Jesus had a way of engaging the imagination and emotions. And that is the key to memory retention. The stronger the emotion the longer the memory!
Anywho.
We've got to do a better job of communicating the gospel in more entertaining ways. That doesn't mean "less truthful." It simply means "more engaging." I'm certainly not suggesting that we dumb down or water down the truth. I think we have to do the exact opposite.
Dorothy Sayers, the C.S. Lewis of her generation, said in her book Creed or Chaos: "We are constantly assured that churches are empty because preachers insist too much upon doctrine--'dull dogma,' as people call it. The fact is the precise opposite. It is the neglect of dogma that makes for dullness. The Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man--the dogma is the drama."
Here's my question: is there anything more exciting or entertaining than following Christ? It is the antithesis of boredom. Nothing is more exciting or entertaining than pursuing God-ordained passions and God-sized dreams. And that's pre-eternity! I think heaven is going to be infinitely entertaining :)
In the words of Peter Kreeft: "It doesn't matter whether it's a dull life or a dull truth. Dullness, not doubt, is the strongest enemy of faith." Kreeft said our greatest failure isn't moral or intellectual. He said it is our "aesthetic failure" in our pictures of God that most potently threaten our faith.
I'm not sure who came up with the juxtaposition, but I like the word "edutainment." Our sermons ought to be educational. But they need to be entertaining as well. Why? First of all, they ought to modeled after Jesus' parables. We need some more whole-brain preachers who engage both the logical left-brain and imaginative right-brain. And secondly, if we don't engage our listeners they won't hear us. It's that simple.
I don't remember a single boring sermon I've ever heard. How can the gospel be boring? Following Christ is the ultimate adventure! We ought to be the most passionate people on the planet! Our sermons ought to reflect that.
A few years ago, someone emailed an article to me titled Cinema: The New Cathedral of Hollywood. Our church was cited in the article and the article compared churches and theaters. The author said, "What we want from church is actually precisely what we get from film." She said that "movies are an alternate form of transcendence... something that very few people are even capable of feeling in church these days." Fredrick Buechner said,"Hollywood consistently beats the church at its own game."
No one should beat the church in the transcendence game!
When I was in seminary I took a lot of learning theory classes because one of my master's degrees was in the field of education. I'm not even sure why I went into that degree program, but it really laid a foundation for the way I preach. I don't want to spend twenty hours a week preparing messages that people will forget in twenty minutes!
I have a communication conviction: the most important truths ought to be communicated in the most unforgettable ways!
Jesus set the standard with his parables. Pure genious! You hear his parables once and you remember them forever. Why? Because his stories weren't just truthful. They were entertaining. Jesus had a way of engaging the imagination and emotions. And that is the key to memory retention. The stronger the emotion the longer the memory!
Anywho.
We've got to do a better job of communicating the gospel in more entertaining ways. That doesn't mean "less truthful." It simply means "more engaging." I'm certainly not suggesting that we dumb down or water down the truth. I think we have to do the exact opposite.
Dorothy Sayers, the C.S. Lewis of her generation, said in her book Creed or Chaos: "We are constantly assured that churches are empty because preachers insist too much upon doctrine--'dull dogma,' as people call it. The fact is the precise opposite. It is the neglect of dogma that makes for dullness. The Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man--the dogma is the drama."
Here's my question: is there anything more exciting or entertaining than following Christ? It is the antithesis of boredom. Nothing is more exciting or entertaining than pursuing God-ordained passions and God-sized dreams. And that's pre-eternity! I think heaven is going to be infinitely entertaining :)
In the words of Peter Kreeft: "It doesn't matter whether it's a dull life or a dull truth. Dullness, not doubt, is the strongest enemy of faith." Kreeft said our greatest failure isn't moral or intellectual. He said it is our "aesthetic failure" in our pictures of God that most potently threaten our faith.
I'm not sure who came up with the juxtaposition, but I like the word "edutainment." Our sermons ought to be educational. But they need to be entertaining as well. Why? First of all, they ought to modeled after Jesus' parables. We need some more whole-brain preachers who engage both the logical left-brain and imaginative right-brain. And secondly, if we don't engage our listeners they won't hear us. It's that simple.
I don't remember a single boring sermon I've ever heard. How can the gospel be boring? Following Christ is the ultimate adventure! We ought to be the most passionate people on the planet! Our sermons ought to reflect that.
A few years ago, someone emailed an article to me titled Cinema: The New Cathedral of Hollywood. Our church was cited in the article and the article compared churches and theaters. The author said, "What we want from church is actually precisely what we get from film." She said that "movies are an alternate form of transcendence... something that very few people are even capable of feeling in church these days." Fredrick Buechner said,"Hollywood consistently beats the church at its own game."
No one should beat the church in the transcendence game!
7 Comments:
This is powerful stuff. I'm in complete agreement. Too many want to portray doctrinal preaching as dusty dogmas that are irrelevant and need to be placed in a glass case along with other religious relics, but I am convinced that the true power of Christianity is only released through doctrinal preaching and teaching.
It does not matter how theological or academic one gets in the pulpit if your congregation forgets what you're talking about soon after. I would much rather understand the depth of just one major point that I will never forget than hear another academic dissertation.
The danger is that we go to much for the Hollywood affect and lose the truth. I think that people should be excited about God and be passionate about living for him. But I do not feel that we have to drop expositional preaching or the simple teaching what the bible says to make people more interested in the topic. There has to be active participation by the congregation to receive and study the message. The Holy Spirit convicts people of their sin. I think that the Holy Spirit can use doctrine sermons. Paul challenges Timothy to hold on to sound doctrine. I am all for making things interesting but we can forsake teaching the scripture because we want to make it more interesting. I am wrestling with this idea of entertainment and/vs. education. Something does not sit well with me.
Dave,
Thanks for the comment.
I think the hang up is the word "entertainment". I'm not using it in "Hollywood" terms. I really want to redeem that word and use it for God's purposes. I hate the fact that those who peddle "untruths" have a corner on the entertainment industry! Nothing is more entertaining than the truth! I think it's more entertaining than sin.
But maybe captivating or engaging is an easier way of thinking about it. One way or the other, it's about "demanding attention". That is our commission in Luke 14:23. The word "compel" means "to demand attention." Which is one definition of entertainment.
Jesus set a standard with his parables. He taught in a way that captured the imagination and emotions of his listeners. That's one reason why people missed meals and traveled into the wilderness to hear him.
We're called to no less.
It's not "entertainment" for entertainment sake. It's not soft-selling the gospel.
It's about giving every message everything we've got. It's about engaging the left and right brain, the head and heart, the logic and imagination.
Boring sermons are easy to prepare :) They come naturally. An engaging sermons takes so much more. More study. More prayer. More anointing.
My two cents.
PM
Interesting, when I first read the title "edutainment" I immediately thought of it from the opposite perspective: using entertainment to educate...
Thanks for the clarification. That makes more sense to me. I guess I was reading it with different filters and received it the wrong way. God Bless.
Hey Mark I just discovered your blog and really enjoy it. I have been feeling that my sermons and the sermons of my colleagues should be more entertaining, but was never able to put feeling in words to really know what it was. Thanks for helping me out. I also read through many of your other articles, and found them very encouraging. My wife and I are planting a church here in Kenya, and one of the things we really want to work on is allowing people to be creative in their worship. I just spent 2005 speaking at a different church almost every Sunday, and found that they all pretty much are the same. People need a place that is different and allows them to be free in their worship.
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