Quick Tip: Is it Just for Shock Value?

I’ll never forget the moment I decided to incorporate a phrase to garner laughs, draw people in, and surprise them. I was speaking with the student ministry I worked at over a decade ago and I thought this would be an amazing thing to do.

I was making my point and said, “What the hel…llo Kitty?!” I thought utilizing a play on words where it sounded like I was going to curse but switched to shouting out a common childhood franchise was hilarious.

Looking back I realized many things. What I thought was funny did not resonate with my students at all. In fact, it went over their heads.

I also realized that the fact I almost said “what the hell” was caught by many of our volunteers and they didn’t think it was a good thing. I had multiple leaders stop me afterward and challenge me on what I said.

And in looking back, I realized that I had put more focus into something that would not actually benefit my students and leaders, but simply would elicit shock.

This was a big heart check moment for me because something I thought was a good idea was not what I had hoped it would be. It became a distraction. It pulled people away from the heart of the message. It created tension and not the type that we should be employing when sharing the Word of God.

After a lot of self reflection and counseling with trusted mentors, I came to the realization that shock value doesn’t have the desired effect we wish it did. Often shock value leads to just that: shock. But the value is typically not there. Shock value moments are typically what people walk away remembering, not the focus of the message or a change in their relationship with Jesus.

Instead, what we need do is think critically about what we are writing and saying, and seek to discern the reason behind what we are saying. If the point is simply to elicit a response, we need to ask if the reason for the response will help to further the focus of our message and draw people closer to Jesus. If it’s just for creating shock or a response, perhaps it is best to remove it from the message.

Looking at today’s Christian culture, there are plenty of pastors and leaders who have done a litany of things simply for shock value. When you look into those moments, the majority of people don’t remember what the sermon was about and the focus has been removed from God’s Word and is now on a singular action or phrase.

That is not to be our focus nor should it be our intent. Instead, we need to focus on drawing people closer to Jesus as we help them to grow and flourish in the discipleship process.

At the end of the day, we have an obligation to lovingly guide and shepherd our people which means we need to discern if what we say and do is helping us reach and direct our people toward Jesus. If we utilize this metric, it will help us and our people in our walks with Jesus.