Learning New Stuff and Changing Your Mind

A week from tomorrow I'll be speaking at Downtown Venues. The current series is on having permission to change your mind. Pastor Jodi has been teaching about the psychology behind changing our way of thinking and the natural resistance we often encounter when we come across new information that contradicts what we've been taught and accept as truth.

I've been thinking about my contribution for next week for a couple of weeks now, but haven't written any notes nor documented any scripture verses or appropriate quotes. Pastor Jodi has set me up well for sharing some of my own journey as well as taking a look at a New Testament evangelist that underwent a pretty drastic change -- the apostle Paul.

It's not the first time I've spoken at Downtown Venues (aka Barchurch), but I am still a bit intimidated by it. I think that comes from recognizing that our Venues' pastors are well educated (I am not) and they make great use of technology for enhancing their messages and even for keeping it light with a little humor. I'm kind of stuck in the--tell a good story and let the listeners come up with their own images--kind of message delivery. The Venues' culture refrains from using normal church speak. We sing together at church, but don't call it congregational singing. We generally have a song that leads into the message time, but don't call it special music. And we speak, teach, or share a message, but we never preach. It's a church that doesn't want to look or act like a typical church because too many people have been rejected and hurt by -- you guessed it -- churches.
It's probably natural for a former itinerant Southern Baptist evangelist to worry about being too churchy, right?

For the most part I've already set aside the proverbial cleric's collar and I'm okay with that. Getting the chance to "speak" at Downtown Venues is a real honor and quite a treat for me. But while The Venues is a pretty open and inclusive community, I don't want to overstep the privilege of speaking and have my style or message be the reason for not being able to speak again in the future. The spiritual responsibility of preaching/teaching/delivering a message at church is one that truly burdens me. It's actually been a bit of a relief that it is no longer a big part of my being.

Stay tuned. I'll let you know how it goes.

John