Reflections on Preaching
In his article, "Reflections on Preaching" Mark Driscoll makes a great suggestion for preachers based on a unique observation,
I've never heard anyone say this before, but I think it is quite helpful. So, here is a little clip from Carlos Menica -- highly offensive, and very funny.
Study the stand-up comedians. Stand-up comedy and preaching are the only two mediums I can think of in which someone walks onto a stage to talk for a long time to a large crowd. Dave Chapelle, Carlos Mencia, and Chris Rock are genius at capturing an audience using irony and sarcasm.
I've never heard anyone say this before, but I think it is quite helpful. So, here is a little clip from Carlos Menica -- highly offensive, and very funny.
posted by William Sofield at 10:54 AM
2 Comments:
Willie,
I don't know if you should model your preaching after him, but he was pretty funny. Here's another comedian for you to study www.jimgaffigan.com. Check out the video clip from Letterman.
Jim Gaffigan is hilarious. I like him a lot, too.
No, I don't think I model my preaching after comedians. I think Driscoll's point is this -- people say that preaching is dead. Nobody listens to preaching anymore except those who were raised with it. It is an acquired taste because it there is no cultural parallel. If I were to invite most of my friends to an event where they would sit in a large audience while one person gets on the stage and speaks for 45 minutes, most would say, "no way! That's boring!" Then, if I said, the man was Carlos Mencia, they would pay $50 each for the opportunity.
Driscoll has said elsewhere. People always complain that preaching is boring. They are wrong. Preachers are boring, not preaching. If you can't preach well, don't blame it on the medium, blame yourself.
Part of good preaching is being able to understand the culture. Preachers who spend all their time in books will never be good preachers. Comedians don't ever spend time in books, they only spend time in the culture. Many "conservative" preachers could learn from their style, I think, but not their substance, of course.
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