Preaching QNA: Part 7
In the past, I occasionally tried to be edgy just for the sake of being edgy. I thought there was some value in shocking people. While I still agree that it is important to grab and hold people’s attention, I think passion for Christ is more appealing than “edginess for edginess’ sake.”
Today, my goal is not to be edgy, but effective. Some of the videos in Satan’s Sex Ed were considered edgy. But to me—and I think most of our church would agree—they set the stage for the whole message. You can’t judge the effectiveness of the video without seeing it within the context of the message as a whole.
You might ask, “When is edgy effective?” We did a video in the second week of Satan’s Sex Ed that talked about how “sex is sticky.” That phrase is edgy. But it was very effective. In the video we showed me sticking tape to a bunch of people. Each time it picked up part of the person. But after awhile it lost its stickiness. That’s edgy and effective.
Be careful when considering something “on the edge.” We might have “freedom in Christ” in some areas. But we mustn’t let our freedom become a stumbling block for others.
The same is true with using crude or questionable language. (Yes, I have been extremely guilty of using slang and questionable language.) You can find Bible verses with language that (if properly translated) would make most church members blush or leave the church.
I’ve raised my standard in recent months thanks to my wife asking me, “Would you want our children saying those words you say when you preach?” When I found myself saying “no,” it made me re-think my strategy.
Too many churches are trying to be edgy. If you’re going to be edgy, make sure it’s because you believe it’s effective in communicating the message of Christ. I’m finding that it’s usually unnecessary and often distracting.
Visit 
I’m hosting a LifeGroup this summer where we’re going through 2 Timothy. I’ve got three guys that have just graduated high school that come.
Last night someone asked about why Onesiphorus (2 Tim 1:16-18) got mentioned at all.
I’m not sure how, but I ended up comparing Paul to a tree that bears fruit. But a tree cannot bear fruit by itself - it must be pollinated by another tree. I then made the statement: “So basically, Onesiphorus pollinated Paul’s flower.”
Everyone stopped me and was like, “whoa! We’re not going there! This is a Bible Study!” That statement kind of grabbed their attention in a little different way from what I intended.
I was thinking about it later though, and I was really glad I said it that way - even though it wasn’t intended to have that effect. Every one of those kids will remember “Onesiphorus pollinated Paul’s flower.” But we went into enough on what I meant by that that they’ll also remember what it means. If we had just talked about how Onesiphorus refreshed Paul they would have been more likely to think “oh, that’s great” and then go home and forget about it.
That is spot on man! Engaging culture as Christ did. I love what you said in the last paragraph too. It seems like a lot of our churches are trying to be edgy, just to be edgy. There must be genuine intent and purpose, otherwise it seems like that could be labled “religous or ritualistic” just like some traditional things people like to bash. “They just do it for the sake of doing it” “They do that because that’s the way they’ve been taught, they don’t even know why they do it”. Sound familiar?
Patrick,
“…pollinating Paul’s flower.” Now that will stick.
Blake,
Thanks for your comment.
Patrick, that’s hillarious! I love it. Those really are the things you remember.
In my opinion the audience matters. I was raised in VERY traditional church and we never talked about isseus like sex. The church I serve in now is pretty mixed…we have 5 weekend services and you can say different things in different services. IF YOU KNOW YOUR PEOPLE - YOU KNOW THE LANGUAGE!!!
As to the point of would you want your kids repeating what you’ve said…that applikes to more than preaching!
Craig,
Listening/watching you, Perry Noble and Steven Furtick, I find myself getting pumped up and saying, “That’s what I’m talkin about!” I’ll often try to copy the [sometimes] edgy approaches that you guys take. As much as I LOVE the way you guys put things, it sounds so fake when it comes out of my mouth. Right now I’m trying to find the style where I’m most effective. Thanks for this post, man. Keep on rockin!
Bill
When it comes to edginess it must be said that it varies from culture to culture. In my culture you would never do or say certain things you say/do in church (I don’t necessarily mean to say that our churches don’t need it). Should we take it into account? Or maybe, because God is international, we should ignore social differences and just do what we feel is godly?
Thanks.
I really enjoy LC’s ‘edgy’ stuff. The ‘Satan hates billboards’, ‘Satan’s Sex Ed’ are fantastic.
It’s shameful that we sometimes feel we can’t address these types issues regardless of time/place/location.
Ryan,
I agree. The audience does matter!
Bill,
You are right on. When I tried to copy others, it never worked. Keep being yourself.
Marcin,
I do think we should absolutely take the culture into account.
Richard,
Thanks for the comment.
Can others of you share your wisdom on what you’ve learned from effective edginess or mistakes?
Craig…Thank you so much for posting this! We work hard to protect our children’s eyes, ears and hearts at this young age. We certainly don’t enjoy having to explain words they read at church that we don’t even allow in our home to a 5 or 7 year old.
If we focus on God and give out the truth, He draws in the lost! We do have to be careful to not cause our brothers to stumble. Not only that, but we have to build up each other! The world won’t do it. If we don’t, no one will. Do you think someone (lost) would rather be a part of people that are truly building up and have the most amazing community or something just edgy, but empty?
Craig, Amy is such a treasure. I love her heart for the Lord and her family! You are highly favored and blessed (eph.1)!
Sheri,
Thank you for the encouragement and kind words about Amy. She is amazing… and I am blessed!
Good call. I just had the same conversation with my wife yesterday.
I think culture does play a role in how edgy you can be. I am in West Des Moines, a city or half a million, but still carries a conservative hard working, let’s get up at 4 AM to work mentality.
We are trying to battle through what is edgy here, and what works. I am looking at series times in relation to natural growth seasons and trying to hear from God. I battle in my mind, which direction to go during those natural growth times (like back to school times). No one here has done a billboard edgy (like sex, satan hates.. etc) here yet.
We really want to impact people, but sometimes i wrestle with where the lines of effectiveness vs over the top are in our community.
Any insight?
Can anyone from other parts of the country or world give Joshua some wisdom?
Joshua,
One of the best ways to effectively communicate a serious message without going over the top, in my experience, is to discuss an issue that the individuals may be familiar with, but with a slightly shifted perspective. Don’t focus on being “edgy” but focus on reaching them in a way that will help your audience readress a topic they’ve already “closed the book on.”
Some individuals would describe that as being “edgy,” but in reality it is simply trying to propel your audience into a thought-process that they would not normally or never contemplate with regard to the topic.
For example, “Back to School” is a wonderful time to discuss goals or commitments or righteousness, things that most cultures praise, especially churches. But what could be your perspective or focus that would shift the thought processes of your audience to the point to where they would revisit these ideas in a more vibrant, God-honoring way?
Maybe something along these lines—
“Commitment to any goal, such as righteousness, is a wonderful thing. But let me ask you this, are you committed to being righteous just for righteousness’s sake? Is your motive for pursuing righteousness to draw you to closer to God and become more like Christ, or is it to just be righteous? Can there be such a thing as an ungodly commitment to righteousness?” —
I know it’s not the best example but hopefully it can show an audience that not all commitments or pursuits of righteousness are God-honoring, despite their well established definition of being positive (a nice shift on motives). That could lead to an example of studying for tests simply to pass instead of learn, is that like a pharisee?, etc.
I hope this helps.
Craig,
Great words of wisdom. I love the wisdom of our wives. Hard to swallow some time, but they are our #1 cheerleaders. Thanks for all you do with lifechurch.tv! It keeps me thinking.
Thanks for the advice. This is a great benefit to all of us.
[...] Check out some recent thoughts from Catalyst speaker and friend Craig Groeschel, as he writes on whether a pastor should try to be edgy or not. What is more important- edginess or effectiveness? Check out his blog here. admin @ 6:45 am | [...]
Greg —
Funny to get back to the basics but, Jesus’ approach to effectively engaging the souls around him obviously upset the traditionals around him… same true today.
I’ve worked with pastors who seemed to run towards edgy — while their language left me wondering: profanity as a tool to prove how un-traditional a church is? Seems like a throwback to Martin’s (Luther) experience when his guys starting killing and burning for “the cause”.
May God give you the wisdom to convey the pendulum swing of our various “movements” (emergent etc.) and the need for balance between edgy & traditional to change souls.
Hope to see you at the conference in October!
Paul Stein
Parachurch / Church Community Outreach Consultant
THANK YOU FOR INSPIRING MY HUSBAND WHO HAS STRUGGLED WITH CHRISTIANITY, WHO GOD IS, FOLLOWING JESUS, AND UNDERSTANDING THE TRINITY. HE GREW UP WATCHING THE CLOCK AT CHURCH, AND DIDN’T GET THE “FOUNDATION” AS I DID GROWING UP. OUR MARRIAGE IS GETTING BETTER BECAUSE OF IT TOO. I’M SO GLAD WE STARTED GOING TO LIFECHURCH IN STILLWATER. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.