Changing Lives

Here's a blog that was forwarded to me (written for pastor-type folks):

You Get What You Preach For

When you preach salvation, people come to know Jesus.
When you preach about loving Jesus, people become better lovers of Jesus.
When you preach prosperity, people want to be prosperous.
When you preach about the second coming, people get ready.
When you preach healing, people will be healed.
When you preach hope, people are more hopeful.
When you preach about tithing, people tithe.

What you talk about is what people are going to respond to. In other words, you get what you preach for.

This is not about communication manipulation. This is about communication transformation.

So, friends, what are you preaching for?
What are you communicating for? ---Brad Abare 1-8-08

Thoughts after reading the post:

1. Cool - I should teach on tithing! ...a lot.

2. Really? This makes people sound like lemmings (see pic - yup, that's a lemming.) Can we really just teach on whatever we want and people will morph into whatever we choose?

3. I wonder... Are people changing or do congregations shift? If one teaches on the Second Coming over and over again... do people really begin to get ready? Or do the people who are not engaged leave the church and other people who love to hear messages about the return of Christ, associated events and theories start attending?

Bottom Line for those of us who teach (including parents):

We must be careful and intentional because we will be held accountable.

Dear brothers and sisters,not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. ---James 3:1 NLT