You had me at the title. Great question and insightful. Both Bindel and you make some really good points. Though I have enjoyed a few TED talks and been informed in a smaller few, I have also felt the condescension and self-importance drip from both the speakers and the audiences at time. But the title is haunting and helpful. I will think about that question and the implications for a long time. Thanks.

Okay, so if I disagree with you (which I still do), you call me a Pharisee, tell me that I pigeon hole (not hold) Jesus, and that I have a limited view of the Kingdom. Seriously, this is what annoys me about social media. When people disagree with you they feel they need to attack you in the process. You’ve shown no inclination to try to hear what I’m saying, so I give up.

And I think the parallel with sermons is not very apt.

(1) Generally TED talks are short, well presented by someone I’ve never heard before on a topic I’ve chosen to listen to because I’m interested, whereas sermons are typically not short, presentation is variable, I’ve generally heard the same person many, many times before and I’m often not interested in the topics.

(2) While Jesus was “authentic”, I’m not sure how often he sermonised. The sermon on the mount was almost certainly not one sermon but Matthew collecting all those sayings together, and typically he taught via parables, pithy and cryptic aphorisms, or dialoguing.

As you and I have discussed before, I think sermons should be the exception, not the rule. They have been shown to be a poor method of teaching and changing people, though they may be better suited to inspiring and provoking if they include lots of stories (as yours do), short enough, original enough and relevant enough. I think we can learn a lot from TED talks, no doubt some of it negative but a lot positive too.

No not really you want to pigeon hold Jesus into what your construct of what God is and does. Very Pharisaical. Authentic is relevant to the content of the talk not attached to the methods. The methods are directly tied to the culture. According to Paul he became all things to all people. Broaden your view of the Kingdom and who is allowed in. Just because you don’t care for this method of hearing the truth of God’s word does not mean the rest of the culture doesn’t. To a Jew he became a Jew, to a TED attendee he would be come a, dare I say it, TED Talker. It’s a heart issue not a delivery issue.

Britney Speares and Lady Gaga ENGAGE THE AUDIENCE, but that’s not the point. The point is that Jesus was authentic in a way many TED talkers aren’t. Re-read the post. You missed the point 1000%.