Say what you mean and mean what you say

Purpose: To show that God is still connected to the believer and we should in turn be connected to each other to edify and build up the body of Christ

Communication = Evangelism and Discipleship

Learn the Art of Communication From Jesus

When you look at the life of our Savior, Jesus Christ you will see that His three years of ministry consisted of communication in the forms of showing us the Father’s love (evangelism) and teaching us how to relate to others that love (discipleship).  Jesus is the type of person who says what He means.  He wasn’t like the politicians or publicans who said a lot but didn’t really say much.  If you have ever been a political rally or watched one of those debates on TV you know what I am talking about.  Those guys can talk and talk, but never really say too much.   Jesus was the type who kept it simple talk to communicate the truth.

Now you are probably sitting there thinking I can never ever expect to communicate like Jesus did.  He knew what to say when to say it and how to get the message across.  It is true that in having the attributes of God because He was God, Jesus was able to see into a person’s heart and know just the right words to use in each circumstance.   This allowed Jesus to touch a person’s heart or nerve depending on the situation, like talking to the woman at the well or reprimanding a Pharisee.  In the end with a little faith and the perfect model we can communicate effectively.

Read John 21:21-22 and as you do think about the last three words Jesus says uin verse 22.  Don’t skim over it don’t take the words lightly but really think about them.

Truthfully these verses are not meant to give you any advice about communication but at the end of the verse Jesus makes a statement of fact that I feel has a direct bearing on our communication style.  Read the verse and see if you can find out how these words should affect your communication from this moment forward.  Jot down any aspects of your communication that need to be changed to bring it in line with what Jesus is saying.

Strive To Be A Better Communicator

On a scale of one to ten how well do you communicate with other people? 

We all think we are great communicators, guess again.  Most of us fall way to short when it comes to getting the true meaning of what we want to say across to others so they understand.  In the course of American conversation most men feel that a grunt here or a nod there is enough communication to satisfy the other person, it’s not. 

Also for the women reading this I am not trying to pick on you but beating around the bush and not getting straight to the point is not communication either.  The Bible says to let our yes be yes and our no be no.  In communication this means that we must first listen before we can speak.  And when we do speak there must be a connection made between you and the other person.

I know this is going to hurt but guys turn off the TV and listen to your girlfriends or wives and for the women be specific because men only hear so many words then the connection is broken.  Some people say it’s because we only use half our brains, but that can’t be it.  No what was I saying?  Oh Yeah! We all need to strive each day to be better communicators.

Read  

Have you ever been on a super highway like Interstate 95 or Route 1 where you have traffic flowing at high speeds in both directions?  It can be pretty scary sometimes.  Well it is scary to think that this is the way some people view communication.  Fast paced conversations where a lot of useless information is being passed back and forth.

The most important thing to remember is that communication is a two way street with as much or more information needed coming in to process as going out when we speak.  Most people view communication as a one-sense activity, speaking, speaking and more speaking.  Communication involves hearing, seeing and then speaking because communication is as much non verbal as it is verbal.. 

Jesus was a great communicator; there is no doubt about that.  He could talk to anyone at anytime and would have the just the right words to say.  True He was God and can see more into a person’s soul than we can but if we look and listen first we can also understand more on what to say.

Even in His silence Jesus communicated volumes about who He is and how well He was understood.  If you were to look at any the way Jesus communicated you would see that His communication with others came in two basic forms; His communication with His Father through prayer and His communication with us through instructions and parables.  This is the same model of communication that we should follow today, communication with God the Father and Jesus through prayer and then communicating to others the truth of the Gospel and discipleship.

Read Colossians 4:6 and in light of this verse write in your own words a definition of effective communication.

Don’t get mad at me but most of the time people have the wrong view of what communication really is.  In fact if the definition you wrote does not include the idea of J.O.Y then you better rewrite it.  J.O.Y means that we put Jesus first, others second and ourselves last.  So in effective communication we need to see the person as Jesus sees them and express to them His thoughts and desires for that person.  This does not mean that you preach at the person all the time.

This means that you must let your conversation be God centered and directed at finding the person’s needs and feelings on certain subjects.  This means putting the other person first by listening and then responding not by responding first asking second. 

Understand the Audience

Not to repeat myself which I sometimes do, but again if you look at the ministry of Jesus you will see that He understands His audience and tailors His communication around them.   That also goes for you and me; Jesus knows us and communicates to us through the Holy Spirit in a way that we understand.  

Too often we try to tailor our conversation around us and hope that the audience gets it.   I don’t know about you but I tend to like people who talk to my issues and help me because it makes me feel like they care about me.  

People are very self-centered and the more you talk about them the better.   T o discover this fact all you need to do is turn on the TV, go to the bookstore or listen to music and comedy routines.   The most successful entertainers are the ones who write about themselves in such a way to make the other person feel like they have them in mind or are writing to their needs.  This makes people want to buy their stuff because they see in them a common sense of interest.

The Bible says in Isaiah 53:6 that “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way”.  The world has a preoccupation with itself and the more we understand this the more we will be able to get to know the mind set of our audience and will be able to empathize with them and lead by example.

See that is where I think we as Christians have a leg up on those that are of this world we have a built in empathy and love for our fellow man and our motives ought to be with their interests and the interests of Jesus in our hearts.   Our life as a Christian is to understand where the world is in relation to God and His word and develop leadership and communication based on God’s word in order to impart Jesus to all.

It is when we start to communicate using the techniques of the world that we start to get into trouble.   I am not saying that we should not use the tools that are made available to us in order to communicate better I am saying when our message becomes watered down in order to appease those we come in contact with then that is where we start to get into trouble and we have lost insight in to the techniques used by our Savior.  

Our communication should always be the truths found in the Bible and those truths should be imparted with delicacy at certain times and with authority in other times. We must never trust in the deceptions that the world tries to pull over our eyes but in the illuminated truth of God’s word

Read James Chapter 4 and you will see what it is like to communicate ideas that are in direct opposition to God.

The devil would love for us to think that the importance is in delivering the Gospel no matter if the message is clouded in smoke and mirrors.  All I have to say to Satan would be Yeah Right!  The importance is communicating the truth, the whole truth no matter how much it offends or enlightens

Communicate the Truth

The Pharisees were good at clouding the truth in laws.  They would have the people so confused they thought no matter what the Pharisees said it was to be believed.  Satan is good at that to.

Read the following Bible verses and you will see how easily the truth can be clouded in lies.  For each passage write out what the devil wants you to believe and what is the truth.  You can do this for anything you say or do.