Preach it, even if they’re not listening
At the beginning of every flight, flight attendants make several announcements… The same announcements that they made the last flight you were on. In these announcements, they give the most basic of instructions: how to work your seatbelt (as if you’ve never used one); where the exits are (as if you didn’t see them on your way on the plane); how to use your seat as a flotation device (although you wish it were a parachute because you’re not flying over water). Because you’ve heard these basic instructions a thousand times, you’re probably not listening.
In ministry, you’ll find yourself telling people the same things over and over again. You’ll give the same counsel: Make sure you pray; Read your Bible; Love your neighbor; repent from sin. After having heard the same thing over and over, people will stop listening. Even if you switch it up and tell funny jokes like Southwest Airlines, they’ll still develop olfactory fatigue and stop listening.
But don’t let this stop you from teaching. It’s not the flight attendants responsibility to control the passengers’ attention. At the end of the day, they will be held accountable to whether they made the announcement or not. If something were to go wrong, the passenger can’t say that they weren’t told what to do. Allow God to worry about the message sinking in… you just keep telling them what they need to know!
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ~2 Timothy 4:1-2
Renewed Vision 