What's important in getting the point across is...getting the point across!

            Part the business of being a pastor is communicating God’s story. One could argue the rest of being a pastor is applying God’s story, but more on that in another blog.

            Years ago, I had a coworker who started off having a terrible time leading chapel for our school. She was so nervous about missing some of the points which the chapel talk sheet suggested that she felt she needed to read the sheet for chapel. That really lessened the effectiveness of the presentation. It was not as meaningful as when, later on, she worked to memorize a few key points so that she could have the eye-contact that can be so helpful in delivering a message. 

            Over the past few days I’ve been able to use the “shorthand” of a cultural referent a couple of times. That is, I’ve been able to further a conversation by merely mentioning a couple of characters in a television program to make a point. 

One such instance was a comparison I was trying to convey when I said, “In Blue Bloods terms he’s a Danny to my Francis.” Since the person I was talking to was familiar with the television program Blue Bloods, he understood that compared to my rather deliberate way of going about things (Francis’ habit) the person I referred to was a bit more mercurial and sometimes willing to go a bit further than I would think it wise to go (Danny’s MO). 

But on another occasion, I had to narrate the scene from a motion picture to get my point across. It was not a recent motion picture and couple was a good thirty years younger than I am. Still, the illustration was worth setting the scene, or painting the picture for them.

I guess my take-away from this consideration is that whether you can shave some time off with a referent or you need to take more time to tell the story, the conveyance of the truth is what’s at stake. Do what you need to do to get the point made. And the more eye contact you have (i.e. the better you know your material), the better you’ll be able to share what’s important.