Hyperbole a staple for preachers

By Jerry Johnston
Deseret Morning News
Published: Saturday, March 29, 2008 12:41 a.m. MDT
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Barack Obama's minister is in the doghouse. Obama himself has been taking his meals there for the past few days. Many Americans are now putting some distance between themselves and Obama, while he tries to distance himself from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his incendiary remarks.

I've distanced myself, too. These days, I'm pretty much waving to the Rev. Wright from one of the moons of Jupiter.

Still, I did like an article in Time magazine that cautioned Americans not to overreact to the Good Reverend's firecracker remarks, that ministers in black churches often use overstatement — hyperbole — to drive home a point.

I can understand that. I've done it myself. Most of us have. We say, "I've told you a million times" or "This bucket of paint weighs a ton" or "She came by here going 60 miles an hour."

In fact, using overstatement to make a religious point is a time-honored tradition. Preachers use overstatement to knock the cobwebs from the heads of sleepy listeners. Bible prophets used exaggeration to startle their flocks to the danger. The greatest preacher in history even used it when he said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God."

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Some literal-minded souls explain away that image by saying the "needle's eye" was a small door in a wall, but that still leaves another bit of camel business to deal with, the one where Jesus says, "Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel."

Unless you believe "camel" was the name of some ancient candy, you have to take him at his word. And I think the Man from Galilee meant exactly what he said in both camel quotes. He didn't mean for the words to be taken literally. He was a master poet and storyteller. He knew that people were staggering around in a spiritual stupor, so he splashed a little cold water on them — gave them a mental image to ponder. In your mind's eye, picture a man swallowing a camel — humps, split toes and spittle — the way the old woman in the song swallowed a horse. There's an image — a teaching — that'll stay with you for a while.

Deliberate exaggeration always leaves an impression. Mark Twain wrote, "If a spectacle is going to be particularly imposing, I prefer to see it through somebody else's eyes, because that man will always exaggerate. Then I can exaggerate his exaggeration and my account of the thing will be the most impressive."

The pictures Jesus paints are memorable and impressive.

Unfortunately, it takes a master teacher to use overstatement well. The Rev. Wright used it to try to light a fire under his congregation. And he almost burned up the political aspirations of Obama in the process.

It's been said old age is not for the cowardly, and watching sausage being made is not for the squeamish. I'd add that using overstatement in a sermon is not for people who are unused to dynamite. It takes a deft touch to create a "bang" without a lot of collateral damage.

And today, a presidential candidate and a Chicago minister are peering through the smoke, trying to figure out who lit the fuse.

E-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com

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Recent comments

Jerry,

You really missed the boat on this one. This is as...

Anonymous | April 1, 2008 at 7:39 a.m.

Jerry is right on the money, especially when it comes to LDS preachers...

Anonymous | March 31, 2008 at 8:08 p.m.

Jerry, you're treading on thin ice with your comments. To quote...

Floopster | March 31, 2008 at 11:53 a.m.