See you in August

Hi folks, My blog has more readership than I ever expected. Thanks for your support!

In August I'll resume posting.

The Acid Test

Here’s why I think “midreach” (speaking to Christians and nonChristians at the same time—see my last three posts below) is so profound:

1. It revives the idea that public speaking (or interactive presentation) is a true art form—carefully crafted, thoroughly prayed over.
2. It is audience-centered. It takes account of who’s listening as the speech act is designed.
3. It tends to avoid (or explain) Christian lingo.
4. It takes the Bible out of the purely “religious” sphere and places it squarely in the pathway of people’s everyday lives, whether they are Christian or not.

 Here’s the acid test: If you attend a presentation or listen to a sermon and you receive something valuable for your own development AND you wish your nonChristian friend were present, you probably just witnessed some good midreach.

On the other hand, if you went away saying, “Whew, good thing Amy (or whomever) didn’t show up today. . . “, well, most of us have thought that a few times.

In my view, doing quality midreach is vital for collegiate ministry (where I work). How about in your ministry/church?

Teaching an early Creed

Apologists often point to 1 Cor 15:3-4 as an early creed that was in use among Christians shortly after the resurrection of Jesus (within 2-5 years).

You may remember that the text speaks of Christ's atoning death, his resurrection and appearances to the twelve.

If the creed goes back as far as we think, it works AGAINST the argument of critics that Jesus as “Son of God,” miracle worker, risen Lord, was invented by the church in subsequent decades. . .

Stop there. Let’s say I’m presenting something like the above material to a youth ministry or collegiate fellowship that is comprised of both Christian (“C”) and nonChristian (“NC”) students, as I regularly do.

The “midreach” approach I’ve been discussing for three weeks aims to give something of value to both C and NC at the same time. And if the crowd is tilted a little more toward one or the other, I wouldn’t adjust much.

In my view, both C and NC students will come to trust this kind of teaching (assuming age-appropriate material) if, over time, they are learning something new that matters to their life.

And eventually they will bring their friends.

Question for you: Could some form of midreach be a helpful approach at your church/ministry?

Next week: my list of descriptors for what I consider to be powerful midreach.

Midreach part 2

Here is an example of what I call “midreach” (see last week’s post for more context):

The gospel writer Mark presents Jesus to his audience in a way that hardly distinguishes between believers and non-believers.

Believers can find comfort in a series of healings and exorcisms in the first few chapters:

Ch 1: Simon’s mother-in-law and a leper are healed.

Ch 2:  A paralytic is forgiven and healed.

Ch 3: A man with a shriveled hand is healed on the Sabbath.

Ch 5: The Gerasene demoniac is cleansed of his demons.

Ch 5: A bleeding woman is healed and Jairus’s daughter is raised from the dead.

Non-believers learn about Jesus’ power, authority and compassion in these same stories.

So Mark is building up the faith of those who already possess it, and making his case for Jesus to those who don’t.

All at the same time.

In my view, Mark is a master at midreach. What can we learn from his example?