Why Did Your Message Bomb?
Why Did The Message Bomb?
In the last post, I told you about my talk at a chapel in the local Christian High and Middle School. In this post, we’ll take a first look at how to respond when you feel like your message bombed. Why did the sermon bomb? is the first question to ask.
What Went Wrong?
That was the first question I asked. Was it the wrong message? Did I prepare enough? Was enough prayer applied so that I was giving the message God wanted delivered? What went wrong? Why did the message bomb? Was I the wrong channel for the message?
My immediate evaluation of the situation was the following:
- I was pretty sure I had the right message for that group of teens. With the state of teen life in the US at this time, they should know about spiritual warfare and the one that Jesus said has come to kill, steal and destroy.
- I did reflect on the introduction, thinking about how I talked about being an old person. Maybe I convinced them of that to such a degree that they turned off the spigot.
- Or, as my youth leader friend put it, maybe it was just the state of being teenagers, that they are programmed to shut off messages that don’t come on Tick Tock or Instagram.
The Next Step For A Message that Bombed
For me, the next step is to move on. I said to myself, “Okay, that didn’t work out so well, maybe don’t accept invitations to speak to teens again.”
A Surprise From A Message That Bombed
So, having moved on, I mentally closed that door–until I met a couple at church on Sunday. My wife and I were in a small group with this couple when their kids were small. Now, their oldest child was in high school — the school where I spoke. he next one was in Middle School–the one where I spoke.
The father, someone with whom I have related well, greeted me by saying that he had heard that I had preached at his father’s church, and that I had done the chapel at the school his children were attending. I responded affirmatively in each case. Then indicated the challenge, at my age, to speak to a group of teenagers.
His response shocked me. He said, “But _____ said that it was the best chapel they’ve had all year.”
What? I had already put that message into the “I”ll never do that again” category. Was my evaluation wrong?
A few days later I received a packet of thank you notes from the chapel committee at the school. Some wrote specifically how the message helped them.
What? This is a surprise.
A Big Lesson From A Message That Bombed
Conclusion
In the next post I’ll share about. a time that the message really did bomb. It failed the evaluative questions above, and then I’ll share how to assess that situations.
