Transcript Learning from the Master Communicator

Taking Lessons from the
Master Communicator
GOD!
1: God is Lord
2: God is the Master Communicator
3: God Precedes us in all
encounters
Therefore, our first communication
question is “What is God doing in
this situation and how can we
participate in God’s mission?”
If God is
indeed the
Lord of history,
what might
God being
doing in our
era—especially
in the US?
Possible Movements of the Spirit
1. Growing dissatisfaction
with the Sacred-Secular
Dichotomy
a. Rise of Islam
b. Search for a political
theology
c. Search of theology of
business
2. Search for globally
appropriate lifestyle
a. Understanding of the
Impact of our lifestyle on
world
b. Recession will test whether
American Christians’
generosity is expression of
discipleship or affluence
3. Challenge to consumer religion
a. Growth > goodness
b. Budget > prayer
c. Programs > community
d. Entertainment > worship
e. Adventure > commitment
f. Individual > community
4. Global conflict over
identity
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Globalization
(Westernization) seen as
threat to indigenous identity
Resentment over extreme
economic disparities and
feeling of exploitation
Race & ethnicity defining &
dividing community: not
melting pot, or a salad bowl,
but more like a buffet
Religion used as force for
social cohesion
5. Call for global
moral truths
a. Need for common
standards
b. Youth seeking moral
absolutes
Learning from the
Master Communicator
1. Focus on Christ
2. Meanings must Meet
3. Focus on People
God takes the initiative in
communication
Communicate: to hold in common, to
create communion
God’s goal is relationships
Not merely impression
God’s goal is transformation
Not merely information
“While you will be of immense help
to the cause of Christ by being able
to defend its intellectual position,
you will be a thousand times more
potent missionary if you exhibit a
life that Christ has changed”
Leslie Wetherhead
The Bible provides our methods
and not just our message
God enters into the receptor’s frame of
reference
•
history
•
language
•
culture
•
time
The communicator is responsible to
adapt to the receptor, not vice versa
Communication occurs when
My meanings meet your meanings
across a bridge of words and they
match
Community occurs when
Our lives meet and we find a
unity that encompasses and
celebrates our differences
I know you think you understand what
you thought I said, but I’m not sure
you are aware that what you think
you heard me say is not what I was
trying to say.
God uses personal and interactive
forms of communication
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•
•
the medium is indeed the message
a personal message mandates a personal
medium
a relational message mandates an interactive
medium
Communication is a community activity
Holistic Communication:
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in lives of grace and joy
in deeds of service and mercy
in words of prayer and proclamation
And God provides signs of life and
world transforming gracious power
God uses surprising ways of
communicating
the greater the familiarity with the form of
communication, the less the impact of the
message communicated
Recognize that God has no problem
communicating through quirky,
idiosyncratic means
•Balaam’s Ass Principle of Communication
God calls for engagement
• Be listener centered
• Take the initiative
• Move into their world
How do I give a testimony?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Lift up Jesus
One way God has met you
One scripture by which God has led you
Without any Christian jargon
Without any dependency on people
understanding life in the US
6. God deserves our best
7. God deserves our enthusiasm
Our focus is on the Person and on People,
not on Christianity and on Programs
1. We don’t begin people’s encounter with the Gospel
2. We needn’t defend Christianity
3. We needn’t have all the answers
4. Our methods need to be consistent with our message
5. We need to build a bridge of life across which the
Word can travel
6. The most compelling proof is unity in diversity