Shock-jock Preaching - Christianity Today

I was so offended I almost shook. I had never heard such language from the pulpit.

After our missions speaker illustrated Jesus’ compassion for those who were untouchable, he became more intense as he called us to action. In a voice wrought with emotion, he described how the drought in Somalia decimated innocent people while a wealthy western church grew rich and lazy.

With tears welling in his eyes, he thundered that while we slept that night, 2,500 Somalian children would die of disease and starvation.

It was the next sentence that slapped me in the face. He punctuated each word with a pause.

“And you … probably … don’t … give … a … shit.”

I sat there stunned and almost sickened that the pulpit, a holy place, echoed such gutter language. Then I turned indignant. How could he know my compassion? How dare he?

A thick silence hung in the air. Then, leaning over the pulpit, he lowered his voice to a quiet, pitying tone.

“And do you know what the really sad thing is?” he asked. “You’re sitting here right now more upset that I just said a naughty word than you are that so many children are going to die tonight.”

Ouch.

He had me cold. My mind was more locked on his vocabulary than his content. Weighing my feelings about his vocabulary next to my empathy for the hurting, my compassion came up far short. His strong language forced me to look deep within myself, and I didn’t like the view. I saw I had more in common with Miss Manners than I did with Jesus Christ.

I have often looked back at that sermon and wondered:

Could I be so bold? Should I be so bold? When is strong language necessary from the pulpit? What kinds of strong words are appropriate? How is strong different from simply offensive?

Truth is offensive

You don’t have to wonder whether you’re going to be offensive in your preaching. If you teach God’s Word, you already are. Your illustrations don’t make you offensive. The Book makes you offensive.

An unchurched audience won’t be offended if you say “sh__.” They’ve heard it before. But to many, all you have to do to offend is say that Jesus is the only way to God. To proclaim God’s words is an act of spiritual war. Biblical preaching attacks the ideas, behaviors, and motives of a world that greets truth with “Well, that’s true for you but not for me.”

To stand in the pulpit and declare, “Thus sayeth the Lord!” will offend many.

Bold, not crude

Strong ideas require strong words to communicate that strength. The Bible is full of strong ideas. Words should be carefully chosen to project that strength. But don’t confuse bold with crude. Coarse words aren’t usually necessary to communicate strength. Sometimes they might be. But often strong words are simply that—strong.

Take a look at some of the words of the greatest preacher of all time. Imagine the tone of voice, the body language, and the volume that Jesus used for these blasts:

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matt. 23:33).

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!” (Matt. 23:13).

“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).

Or consider Paul’s use of sarcasm in his letter to the Corinthian church. One example: “You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!” (2 Cor. 11:19). Ouch!

In Galatians he called the church “foolish” for giving up their freedom and wondered out loud who had put them under some kind of spell (Gal. 3:1). Concerning those who advocated circumcision for salvation, he speaks through gritted teeth: “As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” (Gal. 5:12).

Double ouch!

There is no doubt that Jesus and Paul used strong, offensive language to communicate the truth. If you yawn at their strength because of their familiarity, try using some of those lines at a board meeting.

Or maybe not.

Insult or impact?

The question remains: how do you determine whether offense is productive or simply insulting? You don’t want to turn people away. You want to turn them toward the Lord.

I have found that by asking myself three basic questions about any illustration, I can be fairly sure to land on solid ground.

1. Who is the audience? Who am I talking to? What are their sensitivities? Differences in age, career, and culture determine whether your words will be remembered for strength or for stench.

As a missionary to military personnel, I needed to grab my listeners by the ears and speak bluntly. Soldiers do not keep a mental list of words that are verboten.

“Say what you mean, say it loudly, and say it often,” I’d tell myself. Action words, dramatic stories, and humor are all important when speaking to military personnel. I grew accustomed to using forceful, masculine terms. But when I changed ministries, I needed to change my language, too.

The first Sunday in my new rural church ministry, I said it. The T word. I said “testosterone.”

Now maybe you don’t think that’s strong language. I didn’t. But dear, elderly Mrs. Culpepper just about had a coronary. That word connected with the high schoolers. They stopped fidgeting and listened up. But it shut down poor Mrs. C.

The congregation, averaging over age 40, is mostly farmers and blue collar workers. They have grown up together, worked together, married off sons and daughters to each other, and buried each other’s parents. Many people in our church and community have a strong sense of “what’s right and what ain’t.”

Many are not educated beyond high school. Their lives are centered on life as it exists in the farming world. I have to be careful not to use terms that some would misunderstand. I have found that it is important with this group to be straight forward without being blunt, simple without being simplistic.

If I were discussing someone who is obstinately meticulous, for example, I would not use the term “anal retentive.” I might instead say “uptight” or “hyper-organized”.

I wouldn’t want poor Mrs. C. to have another coronary.

2. What am I trying to accomplish? I want to focus attention, not simply get attention.

I had a brass plaque engraved with bold block letters: “Sir, we want to see Jesus” (John 12:21). The plaque is screwed to the top of the pulpit in plain view of the preacher. I see it every time I stand there. I want the bold reminder that I am not up there to entertain. I am not there to get laughs. I am not there to draw tears. I am there to edify Christ.

The final question is not “Were these people moved?” The telling question for every sermon is “Were these people moved into God’s presence?”

When I look back, my pulpit faux pas were often because I said something sensational. Sensationalism is a cheap substitute for strength.

My purpose in preaching is to unsettle people. I want them to move toward where God wants them. Not everybody wants to go there. Sometimes they get offended when I try. That’s part of speaking God’s Word.

3. Is God glorified? I wonder what God thinks about what I’m saying. That is the test for any words I speak.

God specifically commands that we not use his name in a useless way (Exod. 20:7), and that we avoid obscenity and coarse joking (Eph. 5:4). But he does not have a list of “bad” words. So, preach with force and clarity. Use powerful words that will carry the full force of God’s heart.

I pray that the Lord will pour his Spirit on me as I preach. I ask him to allow me to speak with the same spiritual force that Jesus used. I want the same reaction to my preaching that they had to Jesus. They were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority!” (Mark 1:27).

Advanced warning system

After four years, my church is getting accustomed to my version of shock-jock preaching. But even without that acclimation, I have found that with a simple preamble, I can ensure impact without causing insult.

I warn them ahead of time.

Before I say something shocking, I might start out with this: “You may think what I’m about to say shouldn’t be said in church. But I’m more concerned that we understand God’s truth than I am about us being polite. So if you’re easily offended, tough!” They usually laugh.

By giving them a “heads up,” they’re prepared to listen. If I acknowledge their sensitivities, they’re more likely to allow me to offend them toward God. This kind of approach rarely steals the punch from what I’m about to say. In fact, it adds to the wallop. Now they’re listening. “What is he going to say?”

They might not like what I say. But I’ve found it helps immensely if I let people know ahead of time that I see my only purpose in preaching is to glorify God. Like I tell them, “Don’t get mad at me if you don’t like what’s on this pizza. God made it. All I’m trying to do is deliver it while it’s hot.”

Tim Bettger pastors Glenburn Community Church in McArthur, California. bettger@norcalis.net