Maybe We Should Preach to be Misunderstood

“Let me be clear…” – President Barack Obama

“They misunderestimated me.” – President George W. Bush

“Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood.” –Bennie Benjamin

When I stand behind the pulpit as the preacher for my little congregation, I want (very desperately) to be understood.  I want to be able to translate what I have read, and discovered, and learned from the scriptures and from my own experiences with God.  My “intentions are good…” I want to share the power and glory of God’s eternal truth, and I want the message to be understood. If those who are listening to me cannot understand what I'm saying I'm wasting my time, and theirs.

But…

Maybe we should preach to be misunderstood (at least at first).

Look at the gospel of John.  Though Jesus comes from above and speaks the ‘real’ and ‘true’ things of God - the heavenly realities - he must do so using human language.  But human language is limited and unable to express the fullness of those heavenly realities.    Human words are incapable of describe the full power and glory of God’s eternal truth. 

To deal with this shortcoming of human language, Jesus (the Word made Flesh) often uses figurative language – metaphors and poetry – to describe himself and his message.  And these figurative (and often shocking!) expressions are usually misunderstood by his listeners.  It’s almost as if Jesus intended them to be misunderstood.

For example:

“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” – John 2:19

“I tell you the truth; no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” – John 3: 3

“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” – John 4: 10

“I tell you the truth; unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” – John 6:53

“You belong to your father, the devil…” John 8: 44

“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep…” John 11: 11

Jesus’ audiences in these communications were confused and angry because they misunderstood.  They took his words at a literal level, or understood only the material meaning and not the deeper spiritual truth.  It’s only in the ensuing dialogue that Jesus is able to elaborate his meaning and explain his message. (And even then, they didn't always get it...)

Perhaps we are too conditioned to concise and clear sound bites with a single point to appreciate the complexities of Jesus’ teaching style (as described by John.)  We want short pithy statement with easily digestible meanings, not layered and complex images with subtlety.  It’s risky proposition – to preach complexity and subtle layers.  It’s likely that some (most, all?) of the audience will come away confused and/or angry because of their misunderstanding.  

But perhaps we should preach to be misunderstood (at least at first).