At Pulpit & Pen, we are regularly throwing shade at gimmicks and stunts. Shameless gimmickry, we feel, cheapens the Gospel. On top of that, we don’t believe that youth and adults need object lessons to get the points across, but are perfectly capable of understanding the Gospel and God’s Word if the Holy Spirit is at work in the heart.
I cast aspersions upon gimmickry on Saturday evening from my personal Facebook page…
By the way, they’re still doing the helicopter egg-drop thing. Just Google it and you’ll see news story after news story of church’s pulling the stunt (which is so 2003).
And then there’s the zipline entrance. There’s the television give-aways. It just never ends.
Youth ministry is a perfect place to gimmickry, with youth groups basically turning into minature versions of Fear Factor, having to produce more and more insane antics to keep kids coming back to hear about a Jesus that they do not love. Remember this youth pastor who put peanut butter between his toes and on his armpits and had kids lick it offf?
Well, all these stunts are sad, but some have especially sad consequences. Jaddeaus Dempsey, the youth pastor at Impact City Church (doesn’t that sound relevant?) in Pataskala, Ohio, recently made the local news for asking the youth to stab him, cut him, and spit on him.
In order to teach a lesson on the crucifixion, Dempsey thought it would be a good idea to have kids personally assault him. You can watch the news report it below.
[Editor’s Note: Contributed by JD Hall]
