The "Good Grief" Quote: Respectful Preaching?

The "Good Grief" Quote is a sign of our times. I disagree with what these authors have to say about our weekly topic.

"But I also think it is important for preachers to realize that they are making provisional statements. When someone prefaces their statement with "it seems to me" or "from my vantage point" they are providing self-correcting and self-reinforcing statements that remind themselves that there might be someone sitting there that has a very different view on this same idea and they both may be right or the hearer might be more right than the speaker is. So it is a reminder to the preacher as much as it is helpful for the people.

And I think it is respectful. So if someone sitting in the pew realizes they don’t believe what the pastor is saying at all and the preacher follows it up with "thus saith the Lord," it creates all kinds of problem. But if the pastor says, "that’s my perspective on it," now what she’s said to the hearer is that "I’m assuming that you have a perspective as well. You can compare my perspective with yours and see if you want to swap them out or take a different one." It’s a more respectful tone to take.

I don’t suggest that on every occasion we should be equally as respectful. I think there are times, whether it’s in preaching or conversation, when you realize that what the person is saying is completely wacky. Then you have to be honest and admit that you can’t give that idea the same kind of credence that you give another idea or opinion. But even that response is an opinion, and most likely not the opinion held by the person who shared it."

Doug Pagitt
Interview with Christianbook.com