I’ve had the question quite a bit in my years of itinerant ministry, “Are you the entertainment?” The question sometimes comes from people who may be somewhat new to the church, and if there are other, more seasoned church people nearby, they are often taken aback. For the. record, I’m not taken aback, not even a little bit.
Who’s the Audience?
Here’s the thing, to me ministry is ministry. Ministry means service and I am there to serve. I’m there to serve the people in the audience, and yes, I said audience. Audience is defined as “the assembled spectators or listeners at a public event, such as a play, movie, concert, or meeting.” That’s what the people in the congregation are, at least to a point. It’s not a dialogue. it’s a monologue. I talk, they listen. Therefore, they are the audience. My hope is that I am there to present them with something they can remember, take home and live out.
The Primary Audience
There is another definition of audience. The dictionary on Google made this definition, number two, and I think these are out of order. The other definition is “a formal interview with a person in authority.” While I’m not sure interview is quite the right word for what I do, my hope is that I have spent considerable time listening to the Person in supreme authority (God) before I step before the secondary audience, the assembled people. My first and foremost consideration in ministry is pleasing the audience of One, the Lord.
But Is It Entertainment?
My best answer is, “I don’t know.” Here is what I do know. My traveling ministry involves more than just preaching. I am a speed painter, which means I paint large paintings very quickly. I do this set to music, I often also use video content, dramatic monologues, humor and other elements. That’s what makes my ministry different and it is often the reason churches and other organizations bring me in to present to their groups. That being said, there is an entertainment element to what I do. This why I am not taken aback when people call what I do “entertainment.” I suppose to some degree, it is.
Whatever Gifts
Early in my Christian walk, I was struggling to build a career as a professional artist. The problem is, I was also a Christian and at times my pursuit of an art career wandered into the realm of idolatry. When I felt the call to the ministry, I made a deliberate attempt to separate myself from the arts, but that was an overcorrection. God gave me the gift I misused. He had a plan and a purpose for it, but first it had to occupy the proper place in my life. Everything came into alignment when I heard 1 Peter 4:10 spoken in a VBS program. The simplified version I heard that night simply said, “Each one should use whatever gifts he has received to serve others.” That made me see everything differently, but there was something else.
“It’s a Sin…”
The first thing I did after receiving my call to ministry was I started to serve as a youth leader in my church. Around the time I was getting started in youth ministry, a quote attributed to Jim Rayburn was making the rounds in youth ministry circles. It said, “It’s a sin to bore a kid with the Gospel.” I really took this to heart. Combined with 1 Peter 4:10, I began to see that the key, for me, was to bring as many elements as possible to a presentation, in service to the message. I began to realize that the more things I could bring to help my students take the message to heart, the better the chance that they would remember what was said and apply it to their lives.
Let Me Entertain You…
So here’s the thing. If I know I have a room full of Gospel scholars, maybe it would pay to be more academic and scholarly, but most of the time, that’s not who I have. I have people from the deeply committed to those who were dragged to the event kicking a screaming. I also have the realization that I may never see these people again. In that regard, I have one chance to bring them the truth that sets people free, and my Bible says, “making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” So for that reason, I am pulling out all the stops and using all my “whatever gifts” to help them receive the Gospel. After all, isn’t that why the Giver gave those gifts in the first place? So if entertainment is what it takes, let me entertain you?
Is It Entertaining?
I view using my gifts as an act of worship to the audience of One. However, while I worship Him, a whole bunch of others are watching, and He cares for them more than I do. I want to use all I can to “draw” them into His truth. My desire is to help people to know Jesus and find their God-given purpose for their God-given gifts. The truth is, if I’m not excited about what I am saying, why should anyone else be? The message of the Gospel is the most important message there is, and for the record, I know it doesn’t need my help. Romans 1:16 reminds us, “…it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” My prayer remains that God would use me to communicate it to people in ways they will receive, understand and apply.
Paying It Forward
At the end of the day, my life was radically transformed by two things. First someone communicated the Gospel to me in a way that I could receive and understand. Secondly, someone showed me that my gift had value in the Kingdom of God. I am where I am today, because of those two things, and because of those two things, I will worship my Lord forever. My greatest goal in life is to pay that forward to as many people as God allows. I fully intend to offer Him my very best, and if that entertains people, so be it. I’m okay with being called “the entertainment, so long as God is receiving the accolades. He alone is worthy.
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