The art of communicating

 

Image by Olena from Pixabay

I watched as people streamed into the auditorium to listen to a much-respected and well-known preacher. There was a lot of excitement in the audience, and expectations were high. This was the first day of a three-day conference, and the speaker bombed. His sermon fell flat, and the audience left disappointed. The next morning, he spent in conversation with the local pastor before isolating himself. That evening, the congregation dragged themselves into the church. The chattering and shuffling of the night before were gone. There was an air of inevitability. The sermon and meeting as a whole was a resounding success. What changed? The preacher was the same, the venue was the same, and the audience was the same.

In the modern world, communication has become a science all on its own, a necessary subject to master if you wish to be successful. You need to be able to communicate if you wish to sell something, advertise, write, teach, lead, or even apply for a job.

Stop Licking Your Lips.

 

Image by Cdd20 from Pixabay

Why the title ‘Stop Licking Your Lips’? Because you cannot speak while licking your lips. And the one thing a lot of Christians find difficult to do is to speak about their faith. Some are ashamed because their values are not the same as their secular friends, we do not want to place our secular friends in a difficult position and possibly lose them as friends as a result of our faith, others don’t want to deal with the derision and questions that follow a testimony of faith, and some are just shy.

I remember a television personality, some years ago, saying, “My faith is my business. Don’t ask me about it, it is a personal thing.” Faith is a personal thing but it is also a relationship thing. Recent years have seen preachers telling their congregations to live their faith because that is how the world will get to know Jesus. This is true to an extent, but sooner or later somebody is going to ask that one question we all dread, “Why do you believe in Jesus?” I have added some verses below for various reasons: