It takes PEOPLE to sell duck calls. I think that's what Willie Robertson knew all along, hence "The Dynasty." I want to pull out some interesting parallels between the phenomenon of Duck Dynasty and Homilies. They had successful seasons. They had a spin-off show from their Duck Dynasty series. They had books by a few of their cast members, who are also family members - and that sells. And they made my favorite Christmas cd - ever. I mean it. If I get stranded on a desert island for the rest of my life (please, God) I want my dogs and my Duck Dynasty Christmas cd.
Look, at its most basic form, a duck call is ... a hunting device. There. I said it. Call PETA and complain. A duck call is just a small wooden cylinder the size of a shot gun shell, give or take, that a man holds up to his mouth and kind of blows into in order to bring ducks into the range where they can be shot down out of the air. If he is not in the correct attire, or moves around too much in the "duck blind" - a platform or berm created with leaves and brush to hide the hunter - the ducks won't come down to land in the pond. No ducks, no food. If he does not have a well-made duck call, when he blows into it one of two things will happen: 1) it will make no sound; 2) it will make a sound like the 8th grade boy in the back of my classroom years ago, when he wasn't sleeping. That sound won't bring ducks down-flight either, although the rising greenish cloud may kill them mid-air before the shotgun does. I'm not sure I could eat that duck.
So this hunting device isn't going to sell itself like hotcakes. Like fishing lures, it will just sit on a shelf somewhere in a sporting goods store until one guy tells another, "You know I tried the Mighty Quack call the other day and darned if it didn't bring down some mallards!" Word of mouth is important, but if you can make a very funny television series, you can sell much larger quantities to a good fraction of the intended customers within the audience. And you can also sell tee shirts, drinking cups, coffee mugs, and keychains to people who don't even hunt... who may have hunters that visit their house or live in their extended family or social circle, so you have another venue of advertisement via all those products. Well, until Wally-world cancels you and puts your products in the back Clearance Corner because they don't support freedom of EVERYONE'S speech, most particularly Phil Robertson. (Ask him if he cares. He answers to a Higher Authority, as do I.)
If a preacher or homilist is going to present the message of the gospel - which is itself a "duck call," they need to think about this. You have a wide variety of people in front of you. Do you know them and their experience and abilities well enough to extend this message to them with relevance? If not, why not? Start there. Know your audience/congregation. Know their needs and their fears. You are a human and you are addressing humans. Lived experience with duck calls, with the Message, matters most. You may be in the immediate moment preaching a homily about the Virtues, but you are also equipping those in front of you to test-drive that message and to be the example to the friends, neighbors and co-workers who won't be going to church unless six strong men carry them there horizontally. So you have a Message that was initially intended for nomadic tribes in desert lands. You have to take that in all its profound wisdom and simplicity and make it be perceived quite obviously as relevant to the modern world.
Then to clinch the loyalty of the audience you use what I call the "Personality Plus Factor." And most of you know I am not referencing Willie (!), Jase (!), or the Other guys ... It's Uncle Si. Silas Robertson has got what it takes.... home-spun charm and a 32 ounce glass of southern sweet tea. Okay, maybe the corporate executives like Willie best because he is the voice of leadership that struggles and blunders and makes the tough decisions. He's got the headaches and the mutiny to deal with - but he finds success. He's like St. Peter. You've got the now mostly cameo appearances of Phil Robertson here and there - his fiery personality and fearless commitment to what he knows to be right and true appeal to the crusaders in the audience. He's like St. Paul. You've got Jase and the guys in the shop - younger brother included - and all the banter and silliness and yet important discussions ... all part of the corporation. They challenge the authority (Willie), yet they ARE Duck Dynasty too. They are like the apostles. "Hey, when you come in your glory, can I sit and your right hand and my brother at your left?" the apostles wanted Jesus to ... "Pick me! Pick me!" (Hey, don't we all?!)
But Uncle Silas Robertson is the very folksy - "Listen, Jack, I tell you what..." and for some reason - curiosity more than educational desire, I think - we listen. We see him in his flaws and goofiness. He is more a part of "us" than a part of The Dynasty image, and we can relate to that. He draws a deeper knowledge out of us as a skilled, albeit odd, educator. For instance, when he sings the Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer song and inserts the names of little girls "Trixie and Dixie," and seems to goof it up, his niece corrects him, "No, no, no, Uncle Si! It goes like this: Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer ..." and she sings the whole song flawlessly. He has just given her the Road Test and she passed with flying colors without even realizing she was being tested. "Now, that's what I'm talkin' about, Jack." A good homilist, a good pastor, a great educator does that - they make it fun, they draw it out of you, they make you not fear the Test.
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I dedicate this to my friend Louie S. whose enthusiasm for all things duck hunting was quite disconcerting to me when we met over 35 years ago. I am not going to shoot them, but I love ducks too!
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