Joe Rogan and Today’s Sermons

Welcome to another Thursday UNFILTERED blog post, the only blog that reminds you that you got to know how to hold ‘em and know how to fold ‘em, but enough about church bulletins. Let’s get on with the article.

There’s this meme going around that says something like,

“The Joe Rogan Experience is the most popular podcast in the world, especially among people ages 18-55. The episodes are 3 hours or longer. Therefore, you Christian, can pay attention to a sermon on Sunday morning. The alleged low attention spans of today’s youth is no excuse. Rogan’s podcast proves that.”

Let’s cut through the noise. Here’s the truth about why scores of people can’t pay attention in church (and it’s not what you might think).

People aren’t reaching for their smart phones during sermons because they have the attention span of a goldfish. They’re doing it because most sermons are about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: roughly 95% of sermons today are just recycled sermons by other pastors. The same messages, the same interpretations, the same points, the same analogies we’ve all heard a thousand and one times before. No spark. No electricity. No “holy smokes, I never saw that before!” moments. No life. No revelation. No “Wow, What a Christ!” responses.

(Yes, there are still preachers out there who can make the heavens feel like they’re opening up during their talks, but they’re about as common as a unicorn riding a dinosaur. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But it’s not terribly far off.)

I’m not pulling 95% out of thin air. I’ve sat through more sermons than I can count, and I’ve heard from an innumerable number of Christians who say the same thing.

And the problem isn’t going away.

By contrast, I’ve watched rooms full of supposedly “attention-deficit” young adults, ages 18-25, absolutely transfixed by spoken messages lasting 60-90 minutes straight.

The secret?

When a message reveals Christ in fresh ways and carries genuine spiritual power, time stands still.

Speaking of Rogan, here’s a funny story: A self-proclaimed “podcast junkie” in his early 30s once described The Insurgence Podcast as “the Joe Rogan show for Christians, but without the locker room talk and incessant cussing.” (If you’re not a Rogan fan, I guess that’s either an insult or a compliment.)

In my Insurgence Experience Mastermind (or IXP, as the cool kids call it), we focus on something crucial and greatly needed: HOW to discover and present Christ in ways that make people’s jaws drop.

When a preacher nails that, amazing things happen: People wake up. They repent. They change. They become electrified. They get set free. They fall in love with the Lord and with their brothers and sisters all over again.

So let’s stop blaming short attention spans. That’s just a convenient excuse for mediocre content. And let’s stop using Joe Rogan’s podcast as a litmus test for listener endurance.

The real issue? Most preaching and teaching today fails to present Christ in a way that strikes fire in the hearts of God’s people, let alone the lost.

Because here’s the truth: When someone preaches the stunning riches of the Lord Jesus Christ in all His mind-blowing, staggering glory and power, it beats any Rogan podcast episode out there.

No hard feelings, Joey.