Taking Lessons from the Master Communicator GOD 1

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 • 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 • • • 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: • • 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 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Gospel We needn’t defend Christianity We needn’t have all the answers Our methods need to be consistent with our message We need to build a bridge of life across which the Word can travel The most compelling proof is unity in diversity