Black and White or Ambiguously Clear?

Watch this interview with Eugene Peterson and see if you have a response:

Has our preaching become too “black and white”? Perhaps even more so than the Scripture we preach on? What’s there to be said about the mystery of this whole Gospel story? Where did it go and how do we get it back?

Bottom line: Does a younger generation want to be “told what to do” or do they want to “connect the dots” themselves? One or the other? Both?

Holla.

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Contributor: Justin Wise

I am a religious deviant who enjoys coffee, collared shirts, spending time with my wife and son, learning about quantum physics and creatively exploring the riches of the Spirit of Christ. Find more here: JustinWise.me
  • I love the idea of preaching a sermon and ending with a challenge or a loose end that requires response and/or a wrestling match with what was preached. I think the best communicators refuse the temptation to tie a nice little bow on the end of EVERY sermon they preach, risking that people will not get it, or take it out of context and perhaps even apply it incorrectly!! But I also think these kind of sermons produce the most effective good in people, because it draws the hearer to become a partaker of the word that was preached (regardless of application) and not just someone who heard another sermon they forgot by the time they got home from lunch!

    I found it interesting that Peterson said the young guy in his congregation was so young he saw everything as black and white, and the older couple saw things as more ambiguous! I think the younger generation of our modern culture sees things less black and white and more ambiguous because they are encouraged on so many levels to think for themselves (unlike previous generations), and not just take everything they hear as gospel... including the gospel of Jesus... therefore encouraging the mystery of the gospel to be a part of our language and theology can only do wonders for all generations; let's face it... having ALL the answers on any subject becomes less and less attractive the longer you live and the more life you experience, because as you experience life you realize the people who claimed to have ALL the answers either had no idea what they were talking about or lied to you... in relating this to the gospel and the church, I think this is why so many young people (approx. 80%) leave the church after they graduate from high school... they start actually experiencing life and the mysterious-less gospel is challenged for the first time in their life and it turns out to be a fraud! So the natural assumption of questioning the rest of what the church taught them about Jesus creeps in and destroys their paper faith that was never their own!

    Peace
    Tony
  • "not just take everything they hear as gospel... including the gospel of Jesus..." Great quote. I think this simultaneously addresses and solves the problem of this generation.

    They've been encouraged to think for themselves = good.
    They've been encouraged to think that they are always right = bad.

    Good comment. Especially the "mystery-less" gospel. Love that.
  • KBZO
    Thanks for sharing that...so funny, I was just asking myself the same question on the way to target. I think the answer for EVERY age is BOTH. Balanced...and BTW, great sermon tis weekend as well...
  • Thanks Kim! It was a good weekend....
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