Can You Hear Me Now?
I was thinking about a statistic that I shared in yesterday’s message. It’s from the book unChristian where 61% of the respondents described Christianity as “confusing.” As a communicator this is deeply disturbing to me. When I first read it, I was kind of defensive. Well those individuals didn’t come to OUR church. They didn’t listen to MY messages. And furthermore, if they walked away confused maybe it was THEIR fault. Maybe they were distracted. Maybe they came in with pre-conceived notions. Maybe they were more worried about where they were going out to eat than about hearing the message.
I read a blog tonight from Seth Godin that hit me right between the eyes. In a post entitled “The Posture of a Communicator” he wrote…
What’s helpful is to realize that you have a choice when you communicate. You can design your products to be easy to use. You can write so your audience hears you. You can present in a place and in a way that guarantees that the people you want to listen will hear you. Most of all, you get to choose who will understand (and who won’t).
I wonder how many times someone has come into Cross Point searching for answers only to leave more confused than when they came in. How many times has someone desired to connect with God only to walk away with more questions than answers.
If you have been given the amazing opportunity by God to communicate His Word on a regular basis, I hope that you will take some time to think about this. How could you write and/or speak in such a way as to capture the attention and communicate in a clear way the message God has put on your heart? You get to choose. Don’t let them walk away confused!
Trying to communicate with clarity,
Pete
4 Comments:
hey man, good point! it’s tough as a communicator to make sure everyone “gets” it because you usually have a diverse audience…I don’t know if I do it correctly but I try to be practical, and make it real life stuff. I don’t water the message down but I don’t use the KJV either (heck, i can’t even read that)…just make it real and let it come to life for them, that’s how i do it!
hey pete, a side note…are you going to Unleash in a couple of weeks?
[Reply]
Brian
10:14 pm
The gospel is so simple, but the way we hear (and don’t hear) is dependent on so many things. For example, if someone has never had a faithful father it may be hard for that person to even imagine a God who is loyal, loving, and always faithful–expecting nothing in return. And a New Yorker may find a sermon relevant whereas it’d be Greek to a person who has always lived in a rural setting, so it’s no easy task that pastors face. Yet another reason we must rely on the Holy Spirit and not ourselves.
Side note: this reminds me of Pentecost when everyone was able to hear the gospel in her own language and how amazing that must have been.
[Reply]
Ally
11:46 pm
Good stuff man. Seth’s stuff always challenges me.I’m reading Unchristian as well…eye opening stuff.
[Reply]
brianhowe
1:29 am
I got my hair cut today by a young woman with hot pink hair. She told me she went to church yesterday at a church (kind of like ours) where she was actually engaged by the message and understood it. She said, “He didn’t talk all biblical-like. I could actually understand what he was saying.” She talked about how different she felt going into her week, after going to church. I was happy with her about her experience and I thought, This is what Pastor Pete was talking about yesterday!
[Reply]
Robin Pippin
2:39 am