The Gospel Coalition

People sometimes ask me what it’s like to preach in the Cayman Islands or at FBC.  I tell them that by far my favorite place to preach is with the people of FBC.  Then I tell them that preaching in a church with as much ethnic and cultural diversity as FBC is about as difficult a thing a preacher can do.

That’s because with 25 nationalities represented, the preacher can’t be lazy about illustrations or humor, assuming that everyone “gets” the object lessons and jokes that naturally occur to the preacher.  Case in point:

Yesterday, we began a series of sermons in Genesis 37, the Joseph cycle.  We entitled the series “When Suffering Meets Sovereignty.”  The introduction to this opening sermon played around with the popular phrase, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”  I was trying to set the sermon up by saying that that phrase trumpeted as the entire truth is really quite misleading because it (a) overlooks suffering and (b) can create a kind of ‘prosperity gospel’ mentality or expectation.

In the introduction I wanted to include a nice little quote from a book I’ve been enjoying recently.  To set the quote up, I told the folks that the book was a series of interviews/vignettes with both poor and wealthy people who have learned that the ‘prosperity gospel’ is a false message.  But that I really purchased the book because the title grabbed my attention.  I thought it was a funny title.  And I thought my audience would “get” and maybe chuckle at the title, too.  Here comes the punch line.  Wait for it… wait for it: Will Jesus Buy Me A Double-Wide?

Crickets.  Crickets chirping everywhere. My first thought–which I’ve had here before– was, Folks that’s funny.  Trust me; you should be laughing.

Then, I realize that actually double-wides are an icon for a local sub-culture and way of life that not many Caymanian, Jamaican, Honduran, Zambian, Canadian, British, Scottish, African, Jordanian, Filipino, and (insert the country of your choosing) have a lot of exposure to.  In Cayman, we build our houses of mason brick, not sit them on mason brick.  And there’s a good one word explanation for why: Hurricanes.

But I thought I’d press on with just a sentence of explanation that would help the people understand.  Surely once they understood, they’d go “Oooohhhh!” and roll on the floor laughing.  So, I told the people that the author describes herself as “trailer trash,” having as she put it “had her first kiss in a trailer, smoked her first and last cigarette in a trailer, asked Jesus into her heart on bended knee in a trailer, fell madly in love in a trailer (a couple different times), and gave birth to her firstborn child in a trailer.” She’s a zip code-tested redneck.

The room was motionless.  Except for the little kid about five rows back picking his nose.  That’s when I was reminded that if you have to explain the joke it’s officially not funny any more.

At this point, I read the quote: “If you live the life of faith long enough you will come to realize that God’s wonderful plan for your life doesn’t resemble a Pottery Barn catalog” (p. 17).  There was a light chuckle… from those who even knew what Pottery Barn was.  Doh!  I could hear the humor police ushering the crowd saying, “Move along.  Move along.  Nothing to see here.”  Man… the engine had blown, smoke was billowing from my wings, and we were coming in hard for a crash landing right in the introduction!

After the service, a dear brother from Tennessee said to me (imagine the accent), “You know… I think there were maybe two other people besides me and you who even knew what a double-wide was….  But at least we snickered.”  Thanks.  A little pity laugh.

This morning, my favorite Brit greeted me with the question (imagine the accent), “What’s a double-wide?  I can’t even tell you where my mind went on that one.”  Then, “And, oh yeah, what is Pottery Barn?  Would I like it?”

This is the joy of preaching in a church filled with saints from multiple ethnic and cultural backgrounds.  The preacher can’t lazily reach for illustrations and jokes that come from his native background.  There’s an understanding filter that must be applied for the various people in the congregation.  And that’s work–a joyful and stretching work–but work nonetheless. And sometimes you end up being a colossal cross-cultural clutz!

Not surprisingly, once we got to the text and the truth of God’s word and Jesus, everyone leaned in and I think appreciated the word.  Seems the word of God is far more adept and crossing boundaries than I am.  Praise God.

By the way, I really recommend the book, Will Jesus Buy Me a Double-Wide? (‘Cause I Need More Room for My Plasma TV) by Karen Spears Zacharias.  Maybe if I had given them the subtitle too?  Let it go man.  Let it go.

Here is Zacharias talking a bit about the book: