A lady I could arm wrestle reminded me of Jesus
Last summer it was HOT! I didn't know this could happen in the midwest but my lawn got scorched. That's right, like your brain on drugs my grass got fried (the pun in that sentence just made your head explode). [youtube nl5gBJGnaXs]
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I drove to the local lawn and garden store and asked for advice on how to treat the problem because the scorched grass has been replaced by weeds. When I told the store associate my problem she told me to plant new grass in the midst of the weeds. She also told me not to put weed and feed or any other treatment on the spot until the grass has the chance to fully grow.
As soon as she made the suggestion my mind went here...
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
Matthew 13:24-43
New International Version (NIV)
Really? I'm talking to a woman who looks like she could be a great arm wrestling challenge about my scorched lawn and her advice triggers a teaching by Jesus? Wouldn't it be awesome if you and I could coach and teach like that, in a way where people would encounter the same teaching over and over again?
Jesus made a teaching stick by:
1. He knew his audience socially, emotionally, and spiritually - Who they are spiritually determines the material and who they are otherwise determines the method.
2. He put content to repeatable practices - By speaking to an agricultural community about planting seeds they would constantly re-encounter his story and remember his words. Even 2000 years later, it came to my mind when I was working on my lawn.
3. He kept it simple - His point was simple, one will be harvested for good the other will be harvested to be burned. Sometimes we make application too complicated. When it doubt go simple.
As a leader we have to sharpen our ability to provide application to our teaching or coaching. I think Jesus was pretty good at it, what do you think?
Please leave a comment about what you think made this teaching stick?