They won't forget that one!

From time to time, every pastor I know finds himself discouraged because people never remember what he says. We labor for hours every week to study the Scripture and preach a sermon or teach a lesson that is meaningful and applicable to those we have the privilege of serving. But studies show that the average person on the average Sunday will remember around 20 percent of what you say on Monday morning; and it goes downhill from there.

I know which 20 percent they singles at McKinney will remember from yesterday's lesson.

If you've been reading since January, you know that our Young Adults Ministry is reading and studying through the New Testament in 2008. Yesterday, my task was to cover the book of Galatians in 35 minutes.

Now, it's pretty fun to talk about circumcision in any church environment - you don't need any kind of opening story to catch peoples' attention (and you definitely don't need a visual aide). You just say the word "circumcision," and people are with you.

The lesson yesterday was going pretty well right up until 5:9 where Paul reminds the Galatians that adding even a little bit of legalism completely ruins grace by saying "A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough."

So, I pointed out that the reference was back to the Passover where the Israelites were supposed to eat in a hurry and didn't have time to wait for the yeast to rise, so they made bread without yeast - crackers. Then, my plan was to say, "And if you even get a little bit of yeast in your dough, you end up with freaky puffed-up crackers..." only, that's not what I said.

Yep. I dropped the F-bomb in church yesterday. I had my own little "pitched tents" moment in our Young Singles ministry, although I think I recovered a bit more gracefully than the other guy. It's kind of a weird thing to be dying, wishing you could get back on the topic of circumcision!

It's a funny balance to be able to take your ministry seriously without taking yourself too seriously. Fortunately, we've got a group of young singles who help that by laughing with me instead of sending me hateful emails. All pastors should be so fortunate.