Do The Work!

I attended a women’s retreat recently. As is common with these events, it was both good and bad. On the good side, there were lots of women who seemed to enjoy the day. The food was good and laughter and the noise of fellowship continually filled the room. The speaker was engaging. She attempted to come across as “everywoman,” someone just like us. The day went with nary a hitch and God bore some fruit among the women at my table (Yea God!).

The bad stemmed mostly from the speaker’s talks which were unfocused and contained some errors of fact. Her talks had not one “Big Idea,” but several. And, rather than coming from the exegesis of a single passage, the talks were proof-text filled delivery devices for funny stories.

The question I have is: Why do we women settle for this? Our churches do not allow the pastors who teach us from the pulpit on Sunday mornings to resort to such tactics. I rarely hear my pastor (or a guest preacher) misquote Scripture, use Scripture out of context, attribute quotations to the wrong person, ramble about with four or five vaguely associated points, or make a funny story the focus of the talk. Yet, I hear this stuff all the time from women speakers.

My challenge is not to the Women’s Ministry Directors who depend on the speakers’ best tapes to choose a retreat speaker, but to the women who market themselves as speakers: Please learn how to prepare a proper message. Read some sermon preparation books (begin with Biblical Preaching and The Big Idea of Biblical Preaching). Take a homiletics class from a Bible college or seminary. A women’s retreat talk may be more than a sermon, but it certainly should never be less. Do the hard work. Don’t rely on funny stories to carry the day. Spare us the manipulation of feelings which occurs when you tell us hilarious stories followed by heart-wrenching stories. In fact, don’t rely on stories at all to carry your message. Yes, stories are necessary to engage the audience and to make your point. But each story should exemplify the specific point the biblical passage is making. If it doesn’t, don’t tell it.

OK, I’ll get off my soap box now. It’s a good thing it is God who bears the fruit. He can use anybody, anytime to do his work. And I thank him for the good things that did occur yesterday. He was there and he blessed us. To him be the glory, honor, and praise.