Tradition Versus Innovation

Sometimes “the same” is good.

When things are done the same way they usually are, people know what to expect—“Oh—I’m supposed to listen/participate/brake/laugh/wait to be seated/etc.” Piggybacking on people’s previous experience allows you to take a shortcut. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel—just use the cues that work.

But “the same” can eventually become mundane, unimaginative, and can even border on the ridiculous. Take, for instance, this video:

Sometimes—whether you’re doing a newscast, preaching a sermon, teaching a class, planning a worship service, creating an event, or just about anything else—“different” is good.

“Different” disrupts precedents. It pokes at comfort zones. It challenges status quo. Different jars people out of routine and almost forces them to pay attention.

Unless, of course, you do “different” all the time.

Then it becomes the same. :)