During his 18 minute talk at Q, Calvin College Professor James K.A. Smith said something that really made me think about how we communicate with others. It made me think about how important stories and imaginative thinking are to engaging others and moving people to action. About how we often are wasting our breath when we try to convince others of our position with intellectual argument. He made me really consider how we as the church, as Christian organizations, as passionate human beings created for purposeful works need to start thinking more outside the box and being more creative when we share the Gospel and when we work to recruit people to fight against oppression throughout the world.
So what did he say? Here it is:
"Stories train our affect - our perception of the world is deeply and fundamentally shaped by our emotional take on things. If we want to change action, we need to change perception. If we want to change perceptions, we need to recruit imaginations - this will call us to a space that makes us want to act toward shalom. The church has overvalued logic and undervalued the aesthetic. Overvalued thinking and undervalued imagination. If we don't appreciate this, we will be formed by different narratives. Liturgies are tactile stories that captivate our imaginations. There are liturgies all around us and they captivate you by working on your love and longings. If we let the devil have all the best liturgies, and we try to counter it with more intellect, who's going to win?"
Thoughts?
