5 Illustrations that Need to End

Sammy Rhodes:

What would you add? (Starfish?)

Illustrations are tricky. Charles Spurgeon said illustrations are like windows in a house. Too many and you’re left with no substance. Too few and you’re left with no light. If you’ve been around church for very long, you’ve probably heard a lot of them, some more than once. Illustrations basically come in three kinds: some good and powerful, some bad and awkward. And some good, but overdone—the ones that feel less like a window, more like a revolving door/time machine to the ’90s.

“Of what illustrations do you speak?” you ask (hopefully in a Downton Abbey footman’s voice).

Glad you asked. Here are five illustrations teachers love to use that are perhaps like a faithful pet in old age: they need to gently be put down. A word to fellow teachers who, like me, may hate themselves a little more upon reading this: he who has not used any of these illustrations may cast the first stone.

1. The Matrix

2. “He’s not safe, but he’s good.”

3. Shawshank Redemption

4. Anything Bono said or did

5. Lord of the Rings