Perhaps communicating the Gospel clearly, should be a priority for all Christians.
My pastor called my two teens into the parking lot on Sunday before church, for a little chat. I’ll have to admit that I was super curious what it was about. My kids adore him. They call him, “Captain,” which they got from the Robin Williams movie, “Dead Poet’s Society.”
I later learned that Captain asked them to take notes during his sermon and jot down anything that they didn’t understand, from vocabulary to concepts. During the sermon he said that John Wesley had done something similar, with a young servant girl. He asked her to raise her hand when he used words that she couldn’t understand. Turns out, her hand was in the air almost constantly.
I find being understandable a fascinating concept because last week, I wrote a post about experiencing God and I had someone comment that, “I had written in a way that all could understand.”
I was floored by the comment simply because I never really thought about it before. Shouldn’t we all communicate in ways that everyone can understand, especially if we are sharing ideas and truths about God? Shouldn’t being understandable always be our goal?
Is, “The Church,” failing in communicating plainly with the world around us? When I say, “The Church,” I mean all of us who follow Jesus. “The Church,” is people not a place or a denomination. We are the Body of Christ. That’s a really big role to play. We should probably take it seriously.
What are we communicating to non-believers? Are we unclear? Are we teaching and preaching one thing at worship service and then acting entirely differently when we exit the building?
Do we preach grace and forgiveness to those who visit, but then change our message entirely after they join? Does church membership become about rules and appearances? Do we preach the importance of loving others, but then do nothing for those who are in need?
There are some highly educated people out there who seem to enjoy using big words whether spoken or written. I personally find essays or books that are written with words that cause me to find a thesaurus, to be tiring. I’m likely to put a piece of writing like that, down. It doesn’t matter how profound the message may have been, if it gets lost in five dollar words and abstract concepts.
The world at large needs to know about Jesus. Christians are called to share the Gospel with the people around us. Perhaps we should take a little time to be sure that we communicate clearly with our words, as well as with our actions, who it is we serve and why.
Perhaps we should follow the lead of Captain and make every effort to be understandable to everyone who God sends across our path. Sometimes I need reminding. Maybe you do too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂