Redlight Crossing

My wife, Lauren, likes to watch the show "So You Think You Can Dance". During the tryouts for this dance show they have a section for people who are about to get kicked off to "Dance for Their Life" in order to save themselves from elimination. As I was sitting on my couch tonight I realized that there are times when teaching/preaching to students that you are preaching for their lives. So here are a few of the things that I have learned over the past 6 years from teaching students.

1. Preach For Your Life
You may only have one chance to draw a student to Jesus, therefore each time you get up to teach or preach you are preaching for their lives. It's easy to try and throw something together last minute but if you're doing this you aren't really preparing to impact a students' life, it's just lazy and careless. Each time you preach you have that one shot to draw a student in, so make sure that you are giving it your all each time you get up there.

2. Time Doesn't Equal Clarity
If you can't summarize the main point of your sermon/lesson in two sentences then it's too complicated. It's easy to get carried away when you see that a point isn't resonating with students and so you keep talking. The longer you talk does not mean that you are making things clearer, in fact you are probably creating more confusion. Typically students don't last more than 20-25 minutes listening to a sermon, if that's not enough time then break down your sermon into multiple parts.Don't buy into the cliche that all pastors are long winded, you run the risk of blowing point number one. (I especially struggle with this one because I love to teach.)

3. Don't Water It Down
Students are smart, they understand more than we give them credit for so don't water down your message. When teaching try to give them all the necessary tools to understand the point of the sermon, whether it's context, definitions or theology, they can handle more than we give them credit for.

4. Don't Over Complicate
I'm a student of theology, I love it, it's what draws me near to God. I enjoy reading it and studying it, however not all people do. Don't bring in theological concepts that aren't necessary for your point. This may seem contrary to the last point but it's not. You can't keep your sermon from being watered down without using unnecessary theological concepts and tools. When we throw in complexities that aren't needed it's typically us stroking our own egos than trying to effectively communicate. Keep it simple, but keep it strong.

5. Interact with Them
Students enjoy participating in your teaching, they don't want to sit and get lectured like they do at school. Utilize your students in ways that allow them to engage your teaching, it draws them into the sermon and allows it to become their story. Obviously be cautious with this and never put a student on the spot that isn't comfortable with it and never bring up things that would spotlight a student for their shortcomings, but rather use their for positive examples and interaction.

These are just a few of the principles that I've learned in the last 6 years, many of which I've learned in the past few weeks. I don't have it all figured out, but I'm doing my best to grow and reach students in the best way I can.