Opinions are plenty, but changes are ‘pew’

“Preaching to the choir.”

If I had a dollar every time I said that from up in the pulpit for 10 years, I might be as rich as Kenneth Copeland, complete with my $17.5 million jet – and other aircraft – and my $6 million lakefront mansion.

Not. I’d have remained a poor pastor, but still one, having said that phrase at least 100 times.

“Preaching to the choir.”

This is not what this column is about, but the apostle Paul had an interesting take on the word “choir”. It’s a cool story, so I’ll take a moment to share. In Philippians 1:19, he says, “For I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.”

“Where’s the choir?” you ask. That word “help,” according to translators, is actually a compound word that means “on behalf of the choir.”

Here’s the background on that. Thousands of years ago, there was this huge choir and drama troupe that had the makings of a production so great they thought they just had to take it on the road – share it with the world. So, they set their minds to doing just that and practiced and practiced and practiced until they had it down pat, perfecta mundo. It’s go time!

The problem: By the time they reached that point, they had run out of money. Their dreams came crashing to the ground faster than Phaethon’s chariot. (A Greek god who lost control of it and plunged into the river Eridanus. All the while, Zeus was watching it unfold and then added insult to injury by hitting him with a lightning bolt.)

Just when it seemed all hope was lost for the troupe, a rich man heard of their plight, stepped in, and made a huge donation – more than enough to cover their needs. Hence, Paul says he was sure the Holy Spirit would provide everything they needed and then some.

“On behalf of the choir.” A good thing. 

“Preaching to the choir,” on the other hand. A not-so-good thing.

Why? The obvious. Because you’re preaching to people who, through time, experience, et cetera, already have the same beliefs as you, the same thoughts as you, the same ideas as you, the same goals, same motivation, same response, same everything! They’re already like-minded. Hence, the whole exercise has been rendered, as per its origin in the 1800s, redundant and of no effect.

You might have noted. We have begun running Stacey Abrams’s column. Not so we can “be more liberal,” as one reader has accused us, but so we might provide the “balance” we promised. (No. Drastic changes are not coming! Do the math. Look at our columnists, our content. We’re still 95 percent conservative, and there are no plans to change that. What we really want to focus more on is telling “people” stories. Not politics or controversy.)

I suspected that in doing so, we might get some “Letters to the Editor.” (This actually wasn’t my decision. It came from up my chain of command.) Not yet—I’m still hoping we do—but we did get phone calls from one unhappy customer (see: more liberal) and two who said they were cancelling their subscription. (Actually, they were up for renewal and wanted to ensure we knew why they weren’t renewing.) 

Why? You know. It’s obvious. They wanted us to preach to the choir. They wanted her to preach to the choir. To only champion the same beliefs, thoughts, ideas, goals, motivation, responses, and everything they already had.

Not renewing is their demonstration of standing on those principles, and we respect that. Sincerely, we do. It is admirable.

I am not so disconnected from this issue (as if you and everybody else in the world right now aren’t). I work for a union in my second job. Every time they have an event, they invite both Democratic and Republican legislators, but typically only Democrats show up. (And they’re none-too-happy because it’s usually Democrats who vote “for” bills that benefit Robins Air Force Base.) My boss at the union attended the Georgia AFL-CIO’s 58th Constitutional Convention a couple of weeks ago. Stacey Abrams was one of the speakers. She sent me the sound file so I could transcribe it and write it up for the union’s paper. I listened. I, a Republican (Christian first, husband second, father third, goofball fourth, and way on down the list, Republican), gave it my fullest attention, and my ears hurt at some of the things she said.

Those in attendance? I could hear they were eating it up. They were cheering and affirming with “amens” and a sprinkle here and there of “preach sister” and a little dab of “that’s right girl” and so on. She was clearly preaching to the choir!

Still, I wouldn’t have missed hearing it for the world. I was grateful to be able to be exposed to it. I am thankful every time I’m able to be among those who don’t share my beliefs, thoughts … They may not speak words that taste good, but I don’t spit them out. I swallow them. They’re good medicine. (If anything, they help strengthen my beliefs and thoughts …) 

It is also my way of resisting the conditioning offered by politicians, the “national” media and social media, those who want to keep me separated from others, to lull me to sleep or wake me into a frenzy for their agendas/motives. Those who are 100 percent dependent on and have mastered it to perfection, preaching to the choir! (My youngest trans son is a victim of this. All he wanted was to hear one viewpoint, one side. Algorithms took over and said, “Okay, we can preach that.” Now, I cannot have a political, religious, topical or any other kind of conversation unless I am preaching to the choir.)

A pastor who preaches to the choir does not challenge his congregation to get out of their comfort zone. They have little to no chance of reaching the lost. (Nor do they care to, if that’s all they want to hear.)

You, me, we will be ineffective in helping to bridge our great divide, to heal our wounds, if that’s all we’ll settle for. We’ll never again be a people of grace, mercy, understanding or empathy.

My hope is similar to Paul’s. We will remember our roots, our heritage, break the bonds and do it “on behalf of the choir.”