I have never heard a preach on divorce in church.

I have never heard a preach on flirting. I have never heard a preach on Islam in church. I have never heard a preach on predestination. I have never heard a preach on gluttony in church, I have never heard a preach on disability.

I have never preached on these topics either... so far...

However, I have been asked about all of these things outside of a church gathering. I have spoken about all of these things with people who don’t hold the same faith as myself, as well as other Christians. I have had a massive mug of tea, a chocolate digestive, and a three hour chat about the nuances of being a Jesus-follower with my friends.

When we are at uni, we enter a world of academia that encourages question-asking, debate, and the intake of knowledge. We find little strands of subjects that catch our attention, we chase literature on quirky topics and interesting events, and we ask big life questions as we wrestle through information and commentary on elements of the world we may not have considered before.

Therefore, at university, faith and how we see the world and live in it, also comes up for question and debate. If the gaining of knowledge and forming of opinion is up for grabs again when we enter the new world of uni, then faith and how it effects us also ends up up for grabs for people who have never thought about Jesus before, as well as those who already follow him.

I wonder what topics, questions, ideas you have in mind that you would love to hear preached on at the front of a Sunday gathering at church? Genuine question, if you could preach on anything, or dare your church leader to preach on anything, what would be the one talk you’d want to hear? If you are reading this and have never been to church or followed Jesus, what talk-title would you want to hear, what would interest you enough to turn up to church for?

This month, my local church have done a series on the book of Esther in the Old Testament and our vicar warned us it would be controversial. He wasn’t lying. Turns out the heroine of the story was basically a sex-slave, she was the equivalent of human-trafficked into the King’s court. Yes, Esther is an amazing, brave, faithful woman leader, but the book has a nasty edge to it that I hadn’t realised before. The story leaves an after-taste of injustice and abuse that is uncomfortable. I am so glad we went there though, and didn’t shy away from preaching on modern-day slavery and the abuse biblical figures endured.

So, over to you. What is the talk you’d want to hear in church that you think they (or you), wouldn’t dare preach? What would your friends who don’t know Jesus want to hear the church speak about?

Maybe share this blog with your church leaders... could cause a stir.