The other night I curiously looked on as McCain and Obama slugged it out at the 2^nd presidential
debate. Immediately following the debate, NBC hosted a
special in which they evaluated the performance of each candidate. The most shocking part of
the program came when they thoroughly assessed the accuracy of every historical statement
and number thrown out by the candidates in the course of the debate. More
shocking than the inaccuracy of many of the quotes presented by both candidates
was the speed in which those errors were pointed out.

 The debate had concluded only minutes earlier and already the
candidates inaccuracies were pointed out and broadcast for the world to see. "Welcome
to the information age," I thought to myself.

Pastors are not exempt
from the added pressure that comes from living in a time when information is so
readily accessible. At any given time on any given Sunday any one of our
listeners can easily hop online with the push of a button and test the content
of our sermons. In very short time they can cross reference our words with
those of other pastors, bloggers, theologians, scholars and antagonists. And
just as quickly as they can find inconsistencies they can also publish them on
the www for everyone to see.

The dynamics of being pastor have changed drastically over
the last couple decades, so here are some suggestions to help us all navigate
the minefield:

 Make sure you’re
smoking what you’re selling. 

Your life is the
litmus test of your message. The most effective way to communicate your
message is to live it. The most effective way to lose your voice entirely is to
choose to do the alternative and get caught doing it. I have heard stories of
people making unwise decisions only for incriminating pictures to show up on
facebook, sometimes within minutes. Don’t be that guy. Please, don’t be that
guy.

Connection is more
important than content.

This one is counter intuitive. Our natural response might be to
feel the need to make sure that all the info we present is doggedly accurate. But
although it is important to make sure
we aren’t contradicting scripture, the reality is that men and women who devote
their entire lives to studying the Bible still disagree on all types of things
contained within it. It’s more important that we strive to make the scriptures
come alive for people, engaging them with God’s words, than striving to be the
next great theological mind. If people
don’t trust you, they won’t trust your message, even if you’re right.

Everyone knows that
you don’t know everything. Make sure you do too.

As teachers, our posture has got to be one of humility. We are seeking to minister to people that are
increasingly skeptical. If people sense that you’re not teachable, you can
lose credibility real fast. If they sense that you think you know everything,
it will just be a matter of time until they prove you wrong. That is not to say
that we can’t have conviction, but that we ought to seek to always err on the
side of humility.

Give credit where
credit is due or prepare to look like a jackass.

“Pray it and claim it”
doesn’t apply to someone else’s material. As more and more content is
uploaded onto the web and made freely available to all, rip offs are becoming
easier and easier to spot. Although it can sometimes be hard to find the
original source, identifying recycled material can be done in just seconds with
one swift Google. I am thankful for this. We have all seen too many celebrity
pastor rip-offs. Am I right? My hope is
that this development will force the next generation of leaders to respond with
a renewed sense of originality and creativity.