Transforming Sermons: The "wham, bam, thank you ma'am gospel"

Monday, March 20, 2006

The "wham, bam, thank you ma'am gospel"

Out of Ur asks if churches are guilty of pimping Jesus (HT: Blogotional).

12 Comments:

Unknown said...: Welcome back, Milton.; 9:17 PM, March 20, 2006
Anonymous said...: A few days ago I heard a sports announcer use the phrase. "Slam, jam, thank-you ma'am" to describe a dunk in a woman's basketball game. I remember blanching a little even at that, and thinking that it was just another sign of the baseness and vulgarity of our culture. Sorry, but I can't take it, along with other words like "whoring" and "pimping" in the same sentence with words like "gospel" and "Jesus," the fig leaf of Old Testament prostitution imagery not withstanding. In its own way, in my fallible opinion, the original post is itself an evidence of our general and far-reaching cultural decline.; 1:28 PM, March 21, 2006
Milton Stanley said...: Thanks, Jason. It's good to be back.; 2:54 PM, March 21, 2006
Milton Stanley said...: Ouch. When I wrote that post title, I expected to hear words of complaint. But I smugly thought the objections to be from narrow-minded, spiritually immature types and not from someone I deeply respect like you, Chris. I'll go ahead and leave this post up, but you've prompted me to re-assess a couple of things. Thanks, brother.; 2:59 PM, March 21, 2006
Anonymous said...: I didn't mean to personally wound you, Milton, who did not author the post. Since I did, at least a little, I hope my parry can be at least partially explained as the faithful wound of a friend, and not only as the gratuitous and carnal exercise of criticism.; 9:44 AM, March 22, 2006
Milton Stanley said...: Absolutely, Chris, yes. And thanks again.; 2:46 PM, March 22, 2006
Anonymous said...: Milton, could you explain more fully the spirit of the response you gave Chris Bunn at first for those who know neither of you? Was your response tongue-in-cheek or given as an insider's joke? Or were the descriptions "narrow-minded, spiritually immature" accurate in describing your view of some of those who read and respond here? And what about the mention respect? I was just wondering since there is no information available for someone not familiar with you to be able to imagine your true facial expressions or tone of voice. Thanks!; 5:43 PM, March 22, 2006
Milton Stanley said...: Anon: Thank you for asking, and I'm happy to answer your questions.

Chris Bunn is a colleague and former prayer partner from our mutual home town. Since I moved away from there last year, I can say without reservation that Chris is the best preacher in town! He has a way of making the Scriptures come alive in his preaching--revealing clear and solid meanings that hadn't stood out (at least to me) before. He is well educated and well studied in the Word, and although he has many years of experience in pastoral ministry, he continues to learn and grow in discipleship. He also knows me quite well. Therefore when Chris takes issue with the tone of these posts, I take his concerns quite seriously.

I had expected someone to complain about the tone of my post and of Out of Ur's original essay, because they are intentionally provocative in their language. I didn't have any commenters on this blog in mind, though. Those who leave comments here are almost always courteous, kind, thoughtful, and supportive. Many more people read than comment, however, and I had expected knee-jerk reactions from those who took offense at the language without giving proper attention to the larger issue. Again, no one in particular comes to mind, but from experience I have learned that people sometimes act this way.

Peace.; 11:41 PM, March 22, 2006
Pilgrim feet said...: Don't like to use of those two words together. Author of original blog should have chosen a better phrase. My Saviour is Worthy of better. We celebrate His Resurrection in a little while! Yeah baby! He conquered it all. Nothing for sale here dude! It's called Freedom in Jesus!; 6:43 AM, March 23, 2006
Milton Stanley said...: Thanks, TCC.; 1:22 PM, March 23, 2006
Vicki said...: Hi Milton. I'm behind in my blog visits, so just catching up a little this weekend.

I always appreciate your insights and links. Like some, I flinched at the phraseology, but moved on to the meat of the message because I wanted to understand the point being made.

While we hate to think of having "pimped" Jesus, maybe it's necessary for some to hear this cultural lingo in order to understand better how quickly we've slapped on a "Save-me-Jesus" prayer when we wanted a friend or acquaintance to get saved. As in the case of one particular sister, she desired fire insurance, yes, but didn't care to count the cost of following Jesus. I think that's partly my fault (I was young and zealous). So now she says my Jesus didn't "do much" for her.

It should pain us that churches are also being filled with folks who would pray that "simple" prayer, but who aren't yet willing to let Jesus Christ be absolute Lord over their life.; 11:32 AM, March 26, 2006
Milton Stanley said...: You're right, Vicki. Thanks for sharing your own experiences on this topic. Peace.; 7:58 PM, March 26, 2006