Bill Murray on Church Start-Ups

Part of Bill Murray's appeal is he's one of us.  

He says what we're all thinking.  

No baloney, just the truth layered in irony (which always helps the truth go down).

When you try to act or speak like a professor, people are turned off and tune out.  If you fail to connect, you create a barrier to the gospel. 

Jesus said, "Feed my sheep," not "Feed my giraffes."  

Sheep eat close to the ground, not high in the trees.

If you get unchurched people sitting in your auditorium, and you walk up to preach, they are not thinking, “Oh, good, here’s the dispenser of Bible truth!”

They’re not thinking, “I just hope he’s a good expositor of the Word.”

No, they’re thinking, “Who is this guy?  Do I like this guy?  Could I hang out with this guy?”

If the answer’s no, it doesn’t matter if you are the Bible dispenser and a good expositor of the Word, because they’re not gonna listen, and they’re not gonna come back.  

But if the answer’s yes, then you will open that person up to you dispensing Bible truth to them, and you could have lots of opportunities to teach them the Word.

Watch Bill Murray in the 1984 classic, Ghostbusters.  

 

This is not a movie about chasing ghosts; at its core, Ghostbusters is about the journey of a couple regular guys starting a new business.  

 

Ghostbusters is an allegory for 21st Century church planters: starting something from scratch, the hurdles in creating sustainable models, with a touch of the supernatural and a good dose of sarcasm.

 

And who does everyone remember from the film?  

 

Bill Murray.  

 

He would make a great church planter.