I’ve read a few of Austin Kleon’s books, and I’m a fan. Also, his Twitter feed is fun. One tweet I found particularly funny this jab at Joseph Prince, who deserves as many jabs as his theology can stand. That aside…here’s the tweet:
Wow, even televangelists have crappy PowerPoint slides…#hotelroomwithcable pic.twitter.com/bUoczRzHN5
— Austin Kleon (@austinkleon) June 8, 2017
Funny, right? And I loved this reply:
Forgive them, for they know not what they do…
— Mark Athitakis (@mathitak) June 8, 2017
But what’s the point here? Besides taking jabs at Joseph Prince?
Be excellent.
True, Austin’s larger point is that PowerPoint slides generally look crappy and that televangelists are not exempt from this rule, but the point that I want to make here is that I’m tired. I’m tired of the Church being the world’s greatest purveyor and purchaser of mediocrity.
Why do churches constantly look around or–worse–behind for inspiration? A year ago, my wife and I realized that so much of what passed for “today’s Christian music” on the radio was based off of what was popular in secular music a year or two prior. Why don’t we encourage artists and thinkers to look ahead, rather than around?
I think we’re afraid of losing our message, losing our way.
But think back to the PowerPoint slides. The issue wasn’t the content: the issue was the presentation. Updating the presentation doesn’t have to result in a loss of message. We aren’t going to lose our way if we try to innovate, but we will lose people if we fail to be innovative. We’ll keep our content as we adjust to our evolving context. Jesus used agrarian themed parables. CS Lewis chose children’s fantasy books. What will the Church choose in the 21st century?
Speak your mind...