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Tony Payne
Paul is one of the Staff Editors at Matthias Media. He is married to Cathy and has three fantastic kids. He loves student ministry, reading, writing music and playing the saxophone, and is looking forward to meeting Jesus face to face.
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Hi Tony
I guess it sounds a little bit like the preacher who is disappointed with his congregation because they failed to grasp the brilliance of his sermon.
are they are a bad audience or was it just bad preaching?
better luck next time.
I like satire - and wholeheartedly agree that its worth pursing and developing different genres of communication - especially preaching - for the sake of our hearers.
I think context and relationship are important factors here. Knowing TP and working alongside him, I thought his post was hilarious, and could understand his point. The internet—and, indeed, the written medium—removes much of that, and therefore it makes it easier for other people to be offended.
Even without knowing TP personally - only having read his articles in the Briefing and on the Sola Panel - I still thought it was hilarious.
Well put Tony.
Tragically, some who preach using such literary devices are pilloried, and the pressure on preachers to use anaemic, vague expressions that offend no one is increasing in many churches.
We need to pray for one another, because, in my view, the pressure to preach ‘nicely’ is increasing all the time at the moment.
Oh, and by the way, many will use the argument that Jesus can use satire, sharp language and the like, but we cannot. They might even argue that the Apostles may do this, but not us today.
I don’t think scripture supports this position. Do you agree?
Hi Tony,
Thank you for taking the time to explain your previous post.
Jesus probably did (and does) feel disappointed and frustrated when his disciples, & the rest of us regular Joes, had/have difficulty grasping the things he was saying (This can only be magnified as he was there when the universe was made,he knows all). Now you can probably guess that I am glad that the disciples asked and received explanations to some of these parables and teachings.
Now, raspberry…. (scratching my temple)... I know its meant to be funny, but….
(sorry another poor attempt at humour)
“He was a cruel man but fair….”
GP
Hi All
Thanks for the various warnings and encouragements. Always appreciated.
I was waiting for a Python quote in response, and Gav, you nailed it!
Philip, I agree with you that there is nothing in Scripture to prevent us following Scripture’s example of being satirical on occasion! It reminds me that we discussed these matters in a Briefing early last year—issue 353 it was, of Feb 08. I’ll see if I can get the relevant articles online at The Briefing site ...
TP
Couldn’t Help Noticing and Up Front have always been my favourite part of The Briefing (Philistine, I hear you say!). This,largely as a result of Tony’s humourous take on the absurdities of the real world.
I think it would be a shame if the world had a mortgage on satire, as it is clearly a tool to get people thinking.
If a good post is judged by the number of comments, then the “Media to blame ...” post has hit the spot.
Lets continue to rejoice in our differences and enjoy the robust discussion that comes from them.
“..then he loses his temper and nails my head to the floor…”
“..He nailed your head to the floor?”
spooky likeness with TP
GP
Tony - I thought you hit the nail on the head with both posts - keep at it.
Pete
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