Phillips: words to pass the defenses

Saturday, January 15, 2022
Meditation:
    Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
    —Colossians 3:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The preacher and the writer may seem to have an... easy task. At first sight, it may seem that they have only to proclaim and declare; but in fact, if their words are to enter men’s hearts and bear fruit, they must be the right words, shaped cunningly to pass men’s defenses and explode silently and effectually within their minds. This means, in practice, turning a face of flint toward the easy cliché, the well-worn religious cant and phraseology, dear, no doubt, to the faithful, but utterly meaningless to those outside the fold. It means learning how people are thinking and how they are feeling; it means learning with patience, imagination and ingenuity the way to pierce apathy or blank lack of understanding. I sometimes wonder what hours of prayer and thought lie behind the apparently simple and spontaneous parables of the Gospel.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Making Men Whole, London: Highway Press, 1952, p. 44 (see the book)
    See also Col. 3:16-17; Matt. 13:10-13; Mark 4:33-34; Luke 12:11-12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant the word of truth to the shepherds of Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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