(Photo: Richard Eriksson)

I am reading a pre-release copy of Chip & Dan Heath's new book Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard. I'm not finished yet, but it is challenging me in ways I never expected. (I will post a review before the books February 16 release.)

In my spiritual journey I have witnessed a lot of things that border on spiritual abuse. In response I took a more logical (and less impassioned) approach to ministry. I hadn't realized I was doing this until it was pointed out to me in a personality profile I took last spring. The profile said I "rarely display emotion when attempting to influence others" preferring "to let facts and figures stand for themselves." This might be great if Star Trek's logical Vulcans weren't fictional.

I am learning that God created us with emotions and making an emotional appeal in my teaching is not bad—only over using emotion is bad—and even necessary.