The McBlog

Thesaurus

In other words…

Forever O Lord, Your Word is settled in Heaven. Psalms 119:89

I really dig the way The Message uses some other words to communicate that scripture: “What you say goes, God, and stays, as permanent as the heavens. Your truth never goes out of fashion; it’s as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up.”

In other words, God’s truth is as timeless as eternity and as constant as the sunrise.

Timeless. In other words, divorced from the shifting parameters of moments, instances, eras, periods, and the incessant changing of times.

Check this out; in 1907 women washed their hair about once a month using the two most popular products of the time: Borax or egg yolks. Yeah, you heard me correctly… Borax.

And the maximum speed limit in 1907 was 10 MPH.

In other words, times change, things change, culture changes… we change.

Now, I don’t know about you, but one of the most constant and prevalent challenges I face as a student pastor, and a ministry leader in general, is finding timely methods to communicate timeless messages.

I like to think of student ministry as writing a story. I really tend to embrace the literary connotations of an unfinished book, of which Jesus is author & finisher, but also of which our students have the ability to influence the narrative through choices, decisions and actions. In other words, the biographies of our students lives are being written daily by an author who is present in everything, and as a student pastor, I am charged with the humbling task of influencing my students to pursue the author’s desired conclusion.

Being so closely involved in a process this critical, it’s simply not an option for a student pastor to NOT utilize every available method to draw students into an intimate walk with their creator. I am reminded of Paul’s enduring words in 1 Corinthians 9:22 “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” or in other words as The Message puts it: “I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life.”

The onus on student pastors is to communicate old truths in new ways. In other words, we must find our “in other words”.

In literature, there is a reference tool called the Thesaurus. Any studious writer, researcher or pupil keeps a thesaurus handy when crafting paragraphs, papers, essays, articles or books. A thesaurus is simply a book of relation. It’s a tool whose sole purpose is to find new things related to, and similar in meaning to, old things. When you employ the thesaurus, you are looking for new words, or synonyms, which communicate the same message as the original statement.

In other words here are some possible thesaurus scenarios for student pastors:

-Talk to other student pastors and find out what new methods they’re having success with.

+Three student pastor friends who continually inspire me and stretch me to be a better student pastor are:
– Brandon Shanks
– Jason West
– Amado Huizar

-Spend time fostering creativity. Draw. Paint. Visit websites. Visit a museum. Write. Sing. Walk. Think. READ.

-Spend time honing your craft. Preach your message to your mirror, your spouse, your staff, or anybody who will listen before you preach it to your students.

-Don’t worry about concocting the next big “new” lesson or series. We weren’t called to reinvent the wheel. But we can spend time referencing a “thesaurus”, and take a stab at trying to come up with fresh, creative ways to express old things. Last week I taught an extremely old lesson on The Anointing, but we put a new spin on it. It turned out to be one of the most powerful midweek youth services we’ve ever had.

-Be adventurous. Change the order of your service. Change the seating arrangements. Do things out of the ordinary.

-Call on some students to help you speak their language. Ask them what their “In other words” would be.

-Find resources that communicate the message, and make them yours. Find new ways to do old things. Don’t be afraid to use resources! There’s nothing new under the sun. If it communicates your message, use it.

+Here’s a website you need to bookmark: http://www.keepvid.com – this website allows you to download YouTube videos. Find a video that’s relevant to your topic, KeepVid it, and use it as an opener. (One of my best buds, Jason West, an incredible youth pastor in San Jose CA showed me this website.)

+Free designer fonts: http://www.dafont.com // Free stock photography http://www.sxc.hu // there are so many free resources available to help you be more creative in your presentation… I’ll list my favorites in another blogpost, but with so many resources available, we have no excuse for outdated presentation!

-Lastly, and most importantly, PRAY. We have not because we ask not. I pray as often as I can for God to help me communicate timeless truth in a timely manner.

Inscribed on his statue in the writer’s hall of fame, is this famous quote by Mark Twain: “Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.”

In other words, things change… so must we.

And in the spirit of communicating a timeless message with timely methods, I invite you to watch this video of the Jesus Culture worship band doing an “in other words” to one of my favorite old gospel hymns, “We Exalt Thee”. Hope it inspires you.

Love you all.

David

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