In my last post, I wrote about the pastor as tour guide. I'd like to offer another paradigm for pastors. The pastor as talk show host.
I've heard over and over that in our culture, it's impossible to hold the attention of listeners by just talking. We need multimedia. We need music and drama. We need action and interaction.
Talk show hosts, however, still hold the attention of their audiences mostly by talking. They often have music and, of course, commercials. But Jimmy Fallon still holds my attention with words.
What can pastors learn from him?
1. Ask the right questions. What would Morgan Freeman sound like if he sucked helium out of a balloon?
Can we hear Billy Joel sing?
Is Kevin Spacey any good at impressions?
Those are three of my favorite clips. As a pastor, I think about this question when I'm reading the text for Sunday. What does the congregation want me to ask of the text? We're going through 1 and 2 Samuel right now. So, I might ask, why is David such a big deal? What was wrong with Saul? On Wednesday nights, we're studying 1 John. If John was in our church today, what would we ask him? What questions would we bring to him? How might he respond to those questions? Approaching the text this way has given me fresh eyes to ask different questions. If the authors of these biblical texts were sitting on a stool next to me in front of the congregation, what would we all want to ask them?
Now, one thing about all of these interviews. I'm sure that Morgan Freeman, Billy Joel, and Kevin Spacey knew what was coming. Jimmy Fallon did his research. He knew what they were bringing to the table. This wasn't a shot in the dark. He didn't just say, "I don't really know much about you. What would you like to tell us about yourself?" It's our responsibility as pastors to do the research to know that 1 John has a lot to say about love. This is a big deal to him. 1 and 2 Samuel have a lot to say about God's mission for his people. We should make sure we give space for the text to share its passions. A good interviewer makes the interviewee look good and allows space for him or her to shine. Asking the right questions means doing research and getting to know the interviewee ahead of time.
2. Participate as an audience member. I've read in other places about Jimmy Fallon's joy. (Check out this article from Christianity Today.) He obviously has a good time doing his show. His willingness to laugh at the silly stuff that happens invites the audience in as co-participants. He feels like one of us, laughing at Kevin Spacey's impressions, loving Billy Joel's singing. He isn't aloof and distant, immune to the emotions that the rest of us feel. His joy is contagious.
When I was pregnant and preaching, I cried all the time, and I hated it, but my husband told me over and over that it's okay to cry. I discovered that he was right. It's okay to read Exodus 1 where Pharaoh ordered that all the Hebrew boys must be thrown into the Nile and cry at the horror of their loss and heartbreak. It's okay to read Exodus 15 where Moses and Miriam sang after the miraculous parting of the Red Sea and be overcome by joy and relief at the Israelites' narrow escape from Pharaoh's army. Sometimes we've read these stories so many times that we forget to feel the impact of them. But if we are not receiving the text right along with our listeners, we are missing out. We're missing out on the chance to hear God speak to us, and we're missing out on joining in with the community that we are a part of to hear these crazy stories and be amazed.
3. Don't be afraid to look dumb. Jimmy Fallon is incredibly talented. He's hilarious. He can sing. He can do impressions. He's tall. He could easily coast on what he can do well. But there's one thing he cannot do: throw--a football, a subway sandwich, a bowl of chip dip--whatever.
Check out this video of Blake Shelton and Jimmy Fallon going head to head:
As pastors, it's tempting to stick with what's comfortable, what we can do well. We're good at studying, reading, writing, talking, presenting, praying, maybe singing. Too often we build our church programming around the things that we do well. But if we expect other people to participate in our program, we need to be willing to do things that we're not good at. If we like to plan, maybe we need to be spontaneous. If we like to be spontaneous, maybe we need to plan. If we like to talk, maybe we need to listen. If we like to be in control, maybe we need to allow space for the unexpected. And maybe, we'll look dumb when we're doing things we're not very good at, but maybe others will feel a little bit more willing to try something they aren't as comfortable with--like praying out loud or giving a testimony--and the whole body will benefit.
4. Invite participation. One of my favorite segments on Jimmy Fallon is his hashtags. He announces a topic and invites people to share their responses. He reads the best ones on the show. This is a new thing. Talk show hosts used to pay professionals to write their jokes. They still do, of course, but now they recognize that normal people are funny too. Here's a clip of #MyWeirdFriend:
Especially as a young pastor, I need to remember that the people in my congregation have a lot to offer. Many of them have been reading the Bible for a lot longer than I have. They have life experiences I don't have. They have wisdom and insight into life situations and into the biblical texts from their reading and experience. I need to find ways to allow the members of the congregation to share their wisdom, knowledge, and experience. Jimmy Fallon has a lot more viewers and a lot more participants to filter through, and it limits the amount his audience can participate, but in a small church, I can look for all kinds of creative ways to create space where we can hear and learn from each other.
5. It's not about me. I don't know Jimmy Fallon personally, but I would guess that his focus is not on doing whatever he can to make himself look good, but on making a great show night after night. Sometimes, he probably doesn't feel like doing another interview or comedy bit. He probably has interviews that go poorly that he wishes he could just bail out on halfway through. He probably even interviews people that he doesn't really want to. But his hard work and dedication pay off every time he makes a great show.
As Flannery O'Connor wrote, art is self-forgetful. Good preaching is art. A well-crafted sermon is not about making the pastor look good; it's about proclaiming the gospel. It's about getting out of the way and letting the Word of God shine. A well-crafted sermon points the listeners to God, to the beauty of his Word, and to the magnificence of the Gospel message. Now, Jimmy Fallon is a huge star. Maybe for him, it's not entirely about the art. But I probably never will be a huge star, and that's even better. It just gives me more opportunity to forget about myself and let the Gospel take center stage.
"'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." - Paul
