Leadership Journal

Recently I risked an unorthodox sermon introduction. I held up a large, green squirt gun and asked for three child volunteers. I said I had a mission for them, but I didn't say what the mission was. I just handed them the toy.

The first little boy examined the water toy and stared back at me with a puzzled gaze. After I coaxed him to take some action, he squirted his horrified mother sitting near the front.

I reclaimed the toy and announced, "You failed the mission."

Next I gave it to a bashful little girl. She also hesitated but then squirted me. Confiscation came with added expediency. "You failed," I decreed.

The look on the face of the third volunteer hinted he had a plan. A freckle-faced fourth grader, he confidently seized the soaker and launched a salvo of unholy water in all directions. I lunged for the toy and told him he too had failed the mission.

Then I explained that the mission had been to squirt Pastor Bill, who was sitting (hiding) off to the side. "Why do you think you failed in your mission?"

"You didn't tell us what we were supposed to do!" they moaned. "We didn't know who the target was!"

That was just what I wanted to hear. The message to the congregation: knowing the target is critical to the success of any mission. Especially in ministry.

Most preachers realize we face three different crowds every Sunday morning. We address mature believers who want meat, young believers who need milk, and seekers who are exploring the gospel. Each group has unique needs. Some individuals will not return if I speak only the language and concerns of another group.

Most pastors feel sure-handed ministering to one or maybe two groups. Some preachers are naturally drawn to non-believers. Other pastors take special delight in teaching young believers the basics of Christian life.

I became a Christian as a child, enjoyed a healthy church youth group, and was thoroughly enculturated to church life by seminary. The language of Zion is my native tongue.

My church leaders are also well established in the faith. Together we can subconsciously pull the church's focus toward people like us. Our biases, whatever they are, may cause us to neglect many of our listeners.

A few years ago we decided to address intentionally all three groups in our Sunday morning services. Our leaders hammered out a profile of each group's needs, wants, and defining characteristics. Then we set about the stretching business of being an inclusive fellowship.

The most important place to speak to all three groups is in sermon application. As I prepare, I ask myself how to relate the text to the concerns of each group. I keep a checklist.

In one sermon on Joseph, for instance, I focused on how he had been painfully betrayed by his brothers who sold him into slavery, Potiphar's wife who had him jailed on false charges, and the cupbearer who forgot his promise to plead Joseph's case before the king. My point: we must forgive the past.

I needed a way ...