Say it Simple
I vividly remember my fifth grade teacher giving us an assignment one day to demonstrate a lesson that has genuinely shaped my life. Half of the class was assigned to give a presentation about how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as if it’s the most complicated thing you’ve ever done. The other half of the class was to explain the same thing but like it’s the easiest thing in the world. The results were hilarious, and clearly memorable.
I still remember one classmate explaining, “Well. First, you need to go get some bread. But it’s moldy. So now you need to go to the store. Now that you’re at the store, you’re overwhelmed by the options as you decide what kind of peanut butter and what kind of jelly you want….” The next classmate simply said, “Take some bread, slap some peanut butter on there. Do the same thing with the jelly. Boom! Now you eat your sandwich.”
That elementary school lesson taught me an important lesson. There are smart people who show you how complicated simple things are. And there’s another kind of smart person who can simplify complicated and confusing truths. The simplifying kind of smart requires enough intelligence to understand the complexity to communicate it faithfully and accurately. Simplifiers follow the central truth and communicate it in a way that makes listeners exclaim, “Wow! How have I not understood this before?”
Over the many years that have passed since then, I’ve seen the truth of the simple demonstration lived out in countless ways. As a youth pastor, my goal is always to teach Scripture and theology simple.
Smart Doesn’t Equal Complicated
We’ve all been in the presence of people who are so brilliant you can barely understand them. It’s humbling and impressive. Unless you actually need to learn from them. Then it’s not very helpful and can be quite infuriating. In this case, I’d prefer a teacher who’s less brilliant, but is able to verbalize what they know in a way I can grasp and apply.
Youth pastor theologians are faithful men and women who aspire to understand the deep things of God to the best of their ability - and then distill those divine truths in a way that teenagers can understand. We are not trying to impress students so they walk away and think, “Wow, I have the smartest youth pastor!”
There are important truths youth pastor theologians want to communicate: the attributes of God, salvation history from Old Testament through the New Testament, biblical teaching on cultural issues, and what do we really need to know to understand the gospel. These topics lead us to read and study. We are willing to think deeply about these questions (and others). But when we’ve done our research, we should not stand in front of students to report all our findings.
Be Faithfully Simple, not Lazy
One of my seminary professors, Dr. Sean McDonough, once instructed the class, “Let your exegesis be like your underwear. I don’t need to see it, but I’ll trust that you have it on.” His point is worth remembering (and the metaphor is quite memorable itself!). Do your exegetical and theological homework. But don’t stand in front of your congregation (or youth group, in our case) and regurgitate everything you’ve discovered. Study it well enough that you know the big idea of the passage, and you understand the other nuances that give that central message a meaningful shape. Teach that big idea, and teach it with confidence because you’ve done your homework. When you can speak with authority and with simplicity, your listeners will be able to tell that you know what you’re talking about.
Yes, even your middle schoolers can tell when you’re faking it versus when you’re speaking about something you really understand. Saying it simple isn’t an excuse to ignore theological reflection. If anything, it’s an effort to say, “You don’t really understand it until you can explain it to middle school boys whose ADHD meds have worn off.”
This doesn’t mean we should always avoid difficult or confusing truths. Teaching the Trinity, Atonement, and other important doctrines are crucial to teach students. But as you prepare to teach, prepare to make it as clear and simple as possible while faithfully proclaiming the mysteries of God.
Say it simple. Keep students’ attention spans in mind so you “fill their cup.” Strive to become a faithful expository preacher. But spare your students a lecture that was written to impress your seminary professor or theological hero. Be your students’ youth pastor. Open the Word of God, and show them how to understand and apply what it says. Lead them to Jesus.
