A few weeks ago, our son Bayly could barely swallow. Suspecting he had strep throat, I took him to the clinic, and the doctor looked into his mouth. Then the doctor had him lie down and pressed his fingers around Bayly's stomach.

"Does this hurt?" he asked. Bayly shook his head.

Then the doctor's fingers explored his armpits and his neck. "Does this hurt? How about this?"

"No. No."

The doctor's fingers detected some enlarged glands, and yes, Bayly did have strep throat. But if Bayly had complained of pain in the areas where the doctor was pressing, one of two things would've been true.

Either the doctor had pushed too hard, without the right sensitivity. Or, more likely, there would have been something else wrong, and the doctor would have said, "We'd better do some more tests. It's not supposed to hurt there!"

Bayly's exam reminded me of Ben Roger's sermon illustration that Leadership published in 1983, pointing out the parallel to what churches experience whenever the pastor presents what ...