The not-always-risky percentages behind “there’s somebody here tonight”

There’s always a risk behind boldly saying that your point will apply “to somebody here tonight.”

There’s always a risk in stopping to boldly state - “inspired” - that what you’re saying directly applies to a certain person.

But, your odds rise with the amount of people hearing you.

And they will rise the more generic your statement.

And they will continue to rise the more disclaimers you stack up.

To a crowd of three hundred, someone will definitely be struggling with habitual sin. Or feel distant from God.

To a group of fifteen, it will be a far greater risk to say that someone present is identifying directly with the conditions laid out in a passage.

I don’t think that I’ve ever “felt led” to make my points directly applicable to “someone” but I am increasingly wary once the odds improve and the amount of “inspiration” is reduced.

For, in a crowd, simple percentages say that “someone” will be struggling with watching porn.

And they will be liars.

And a fair slice of the crowd will have a trauma in the past that they are still wrestling with.

Or they have been hurt by the church in the past.

To pick them out requires little “inspiration.”