Am I Provocative?

In case you missed it, we need to big up Kathy Sierra at Creating Passionate Users for this "provocative" post on how other thoughts, ideas and craziness of life compete for our attention…even when the message is important. (Uh…if you think you have an important message, you may want to pay attention to this.)

This is a great reminder that the Church isn’t competing with other churches for people’s attention. The reality is we’re competing with everything that people choose to focus on at any given moment. And, honestly, the normal person is rarely thinking about your ministry or your message. The point Kathy makes is that our message may be important, but it won’t capture people’s attention if it’s not compelling.

Among other things, Kathy challenges us with this statement:

"So this isn’t about having to bribe people into paying attention by sexing things up with graphics, sound, or shock. This is about helping the mind and the brain agree on what’s worth paying attention to. And if you want it to be you, then you better be the most provocative and interesting thing in their environment."

Who are you trying to reach with your message? Are they actually paying attention? If not, the easy thing to do is blame them for not listening. The harder thing to do is to determine how you might compel them to fully engage in your message.