When in Baton Rouge, one of the elders in our church had leant me a few talks be a speaker named Leonard Sweet. At the time, I enjoyed what he had to say, but had pretty much forgotten his name except for when I happen across a copy of his CD in my old discs. Well, tonight I saw his name on a Google list while querying around for karios/chronos discussions. Clicking over to his site I found a refreshingly interesting set of articles. The talk I heard did no justice to his ideas. As it turns out, he is much more a clever, spot-on thinker than I initially gave him credit for.

The one article that I ended up reading through fully is called "E.P.I.C. Preaching". In it he outlines how he suggests people respond to the paradigm shift from logically based-preaching to a more experientially-based , interactive style. One passage that stood out the most, and there were many that stood out, was where Sweet wrote on connectedness. It stood out to me because I had written a few weeks ago on meaning and connectivity, but Sweet took it in a more practical, hands-on direction. He wrote,

EPIC preaching is not pulpit oratory, it's pew connection and interaction. The "command-and-control" model of pulpit-centric preaching is fading, just as "command-and-control" models of information-sharing are fast disappearing. It's the connections that count. It's the connected that inherit the kingdom. The greater the number and quality of the connections, the greater the caliber and creativity of discipleship. And worship. That's why, in many ways, you can't write an essay on EPIC preaching. Only on EPIC worship. I found this out when I invited cutting-edge preachers from around the globe to address a conference. They wouldn't come without their worship leaders and other members with whom they connect.

This is the second time I've heard this idea of the Pharisaic preaching model being inferior and ineffective compared to Christ's approach recently. All in all, it is clear that connectedness, relationship and meaning are created more than ever now. With meaning from the past having been lost in the past few generations, we are in a place where we are called to create meaning and Sweet outlines a great place to start focusing.