Getting the Hay to the Goats

In a recent talk to Presbyterian ministers, John Ortberg borrowed Garrison Keillor’s criticism of a Lake Woebegone minister whose sermons did not “put the hay where the goats could get it.” Ortberg said many Christian churches know how to reach the “goats” but don’t have any “hay” for them and many other churches have the “hay” but don’t know how to reach the “goats.” He put his Presbyterian denomination in the latter category and urged his audience to look for a movement of God’s Spirit that would enable their church to equip disciples to be effective teachers of the nations.