That’ll Preach

My son's thoughts on King David from the Bible

"Dad, you know something, David, you know the one in the Bible?"

"Yes, Son, I'm familiar with him."

"The children's Bible doesn't tell you this, but the official Bible says he's technically a serial killer; his kill count is huge. I mean, look at the evidence, he picked up five stones, he had intent to take out more people, he's one bad guy. Technically, that makes him a serial killer; he used God's 44 magnum with armor-piercing rounds."

I easily resist the temptation to launch into a hermeneutical discourse on the Bible, primarily because I'm laughing. The other reason is that a child's perspective is often enough to see the story through a different lens. A lot of good teaching involves shifting of perspectives.

I'll probably use this one day, but for those with more urgent sermons to preach, try this.

"The young Hebrew Shepherd went to the river and selected five smooth stones with the intent to kill."

With all of the conflicts going on in our lives, how do you appear in the eyes of your enemy? How do they see themselves? How committed are we when it comes to being heroes in the stories we tell ourselves?"

In the words of my homeletics professor, "That'll preach"