think about it
As a teacher people often have thoughts and critiques of what I say, and/or how I have said it. I want to be clear I honestly welcome all critique, for it makes me pay attention to multiple perspectives, and hopefully serves to strengthen me as a teacher (one disclaimer: I generally disregarded people who are just mean about critiquing). So over the years I have heard about everything that a pastor can hear from the listeners.
Some focus on elocution. After a teaching they will say, “You had a vocalized pause at the beginning of your teaching. You ought to work at not saying ‘umm’ when you speak publicly.” I often like to reply, “Thanks, I umm, wasn’t aware that I umm, did that.”
Some focus on what I am wearing. The best comment I ever got was when someone said to me, “What you are wearing is not what a preacher wears.” I wasn’t sure if that meant that I wasn’t a preacher, or if I just wasn’t dressed like one (I will not tell you what I was wearing, rather I will allow you to think about what a ‘preacher’ dresses like).
Some have talked about my hair. Some have commented on my theology. Some have commented on how fast I speak. In all of this, I honestly listen to people. I often in listening find things that are true, and that I need to work on. I realize that if I want as many people to stop and listen to me that I have to, umm, do things that do not distract them from the words.
There is however one thing that I have tried for years, for which I receive much criticism, but I will not ever change. What could that be? For those of you who have seen me you know that my hair is short, I no longer where my earrings, my tattoos are covered, I dress like a preacher (I think), and I try to enunciate much better. So what is it? What is causing this stubborn streak besides my Irish-Cuban heritage?
My desire as a teacher is for those who listen to what I have to say is for them to have to wrestle with the implications of what I say. I want people to think about the questions that were raised during the teaching. I want people to discuss with one another what they heard on the way home. I want to receive emails from people not complimenting me, but with questions that probe deeper into what I was saying. The bottom line is that I want people to think.
This is to say, that many people want a boatload of information, and then want explicit directions on what they should do with said information. Here lies the intrinsic problem with that thought. How can I, a young teaching pastor from New York, with an Irish mother, a Cuban father, husband to a California girl, and father of two young children, tell a 57 year old Dutch woman, mother of 6, wife to a 58 year old Polish guy, who has lived in Holland her entire life, exactly what she needs to do to apply the information that I have given her?
So often I have been on the opposite side of this. The person preaching says, "I have three things for you to do.” When those three things are stated I immediately realize that those three things, while thought to apply to my generation and me, actually miss the mark. I cannot explicitly tell another guy my age what to do with the information presented because he is not me, nor am I him. I have seen time and again someone stand up with the answers, and they preach their hearts out. The listeners leave disappointed because they have heard this kind of thing before … the disappointment comes because the answers frequently do not translate into real life.
So what is it that I will not change? Simply this: I want my teaching to provoke thought by asking questions, not close thought by giving answers. I say this because learning is not simply a consequence of teaching or listening, but a consequence of thinking. Thinking causes one to act on what he or she has heard. It causes engagement with self and others. It is through this action that one learns and makes what they have heard their own. I believe the listener is smart enough to answer the questions, and to apply it to their world and their situation. Let’s think together, and stop just wanting more “to-do’s” and more information. This is what will lead us to further learning.