When The Right Response is "You’re Pretty Lame!"
I was fascinated by a recent Time article that seems to contradict everything we’ve ever heard about positive thinking and self-help. We’ve always heard that the best thing we could do for people is to build them up, encourage them, and make them feel better about themselves. If we don’t do this, the theory goes, our children’s fragile egos will be hurt and they will not be able to fully realize their potential. Because of that, a generation of kids that can’t hit a home run, throw a free throw, catch a pass, or hit a back hand in tennis have been told, in spite of their obvious ineptitude, that they can achieve greatness.
Turns out they were wrong.
Here’s a telling quote from the article:
“…when people get feedback that they believe is overly positive, they actually feel worse, not better. If you try to tell your dim friend that he has the potential of an Einstein, he won’t think he’s any smarter; he will probably just disbelieve your contradictory theory, hew more closely to his own self-assessment and, in the end, feel even dumber.”
What does this mean for us? I think this brings us to the crux of the gospel story. The truth is that we are people that are and have messed up. We are not perfect. People are sinful. And God allowed His Son to be sacrificed and take the penalty for our sins. There’s no way to really sugar-coat that. It’s a messy subject. And yet so many preachers and leaders out there simply try to present this really warm-fuzzy version of the gospel. God wants you to have lots of money. He wants you to be blessed beyond your wildest imagination and to have a Bentley (or two) in the garage.
As I survey preaching in the last few years it seems that a shift is taking place. The past decade or so has been owned by baby boomer preachers who preached on five ways to do this better, or ten ways to get out of debt. Yes, we’ll always have the Olsteen-type preachers out there. But it seems that the pendulum is now swinging in the other direction. We’re coming to a place where people are searching and seeking for deeply authentic biblical preaching that cuts to the core.
I feel like a shift has taken place in my own preaching to this end as well. My job is not to help people retire in a better financial position, but to be ready for the soon coming of Jesus. And that means that sometimes we have to tell people the truth that, yes, they are pretty lame, but there is hope in Jesus.
What about you? What has your experience been with these concepts of positive thinking? Or about some of these different preaching styles?
*Thanks to Pastor Chris Bullock of Fusion Church Atlanta for pointing out this article to me.
[image by APHOrism]
No related posts.
it was interesting the propsiitonal question that the study began with the article states: "when people hear something they don't believe, they are not only often skeptical but adhere even more strongly to their original position." what does this say in regards to our typical evangelistic meetings?? i believe though it's about balancing when to give proper affirmation and when to have the proper tactic to tell someone in not so few words "you suck" (going with the article title:-) the bible tells us we should encourgae one another but we should also be able to be honest and confront people in order that they can improve (as my wife confronts me when i preach:-) or do something else
in regards to preaching…well not to be simplistic but we just need to preach His Word and not preach our word and use the Bible to back it up…and you know people talk about good ole Joel but listen to him here speaking on clean and unclean foods (maybe you've heard it before) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJrJkFBEt_c
Thanks for sharing that article, Rodlie. That whole debate over sugar-coated praise vs. speaking the truth in love has been a controversial topic in education (specifically classroom management) for years. I've always agreed with the article's perspective, but one of the most difficult parts of teaching for me was always the times when I had to tell a student that they just weren't cutting it. I appreciated your take on the debate from the perspective of a preacher. And Javi, thanks for sharing that clip of Osteen… didn't see that coming!
I read an interesting article in Scientific American which is sort of related to this. The article says that students are more motivated to learn when they are praised for their effort, rather than for their ability. Ability is hard to change, but effort can always be changed. Maybe it doesn't tie in perfectly to what you were saying, but it was the first thing I thought of. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=…
Yeah, that's the great balance we have to find. Of course, everyone says that they're "preaching the Word," but what they're more often preaching is some amalgamation of the Gospel. I actually like Olsteen. I call him the "smiling preacher." But he's afraid to use the word sin. That's not good. The Gospel is all about how God dealt with the sin problem.
Very perceptive distinction there, Andrew. Thanks.