Common Touch

From early days in my preaching and teaching, I loved language. The English vocabulary is so rich. I could never for the life of me understand how some people could not progress beyond the obvious swear word, or more latterly that by the use of God's name so regularly sprinkled in their sentences, somehow imagine they have managed to get their meaning across with greater force.

While still in Auckland, a close friend complimented me on the effort I put into my messages, but raised the question if I had considered sharing my heart's message in simpler language.

Another friend has called me a “wordsmith,” and I enjoyed the thought – yes! that's what I want to be, a dealer in words, yet this raised for me again the question: am I connecting with the ordinary person on the street? Defence counsel need to have a connection with the jury, or the case is lost.

I think I became aware of this also in my secular work, with the odd client asking the dictionary meaning of a word that had just fallen out of my lips. I can remember how I relished jousting with a teacher in English classics at a prestigious Canberra school as I shared a word not even he was familiar with. We had a delightful ten minutes as he did the same, and had me guessing.

The Lord finally got His point across to me when one day someone in the church family respectfully took me aside. He told me I was hard to follow because of my big words – if I could just speak more simply! He had my attention.

A new song

The gospel of John opens with the beautiful statement: "In the beginning was the Word." God wanted to communicate with men, and He sent Jesus.

We know that it was said of Jesus, the common people heard Him gladly. The New International Version says, they "listened to Him with delight" (Mark 12:37, NIV). He regularly spoke in parables (figures drawn from everyday life-sowers, seed, fields, marriage feasts). He spoke their language, the street language of Aramaic rather than classical Greek. His unmistakable love was spelt out on the Cross, plain for all to read. He brought the people with Him.

In similar fashion, the Apostle Paul drew on the athlete, the farmer, the soldier. In Ephesians 6, he leant on the reader's common knowledge both of the Roman soldier's uniform and the contest between two Greek wrestlers.

We are all spiritually bankrupt and unable to work effectively in any area without the Lord's enabling.

I can sometimes become concerned about my lack of soul fruit, my poverty in sharing the gospel with ease or in a natural way. I need to keep it not too complicated, and graft the first beatitude into all aspects of my life God blesses those who are poor and realise their need for Him (Matthew 5:3 New Living Translation). We are all spiritually bankrupt and unable to work effectively in any area without the Lord's enabling.

The heart of the KISS principle is to keep it simple. Why would I want to refer to perspicacity when all the listeners need is insight? The root word of communication is apparently commonness; we get on the same page with our hearers.

Rick Warren reminds us our tendency is to try to teach simple truths in profound ways: Jesus did precisely the opposite. He moved to teach profound truths in simple ways.

Don't get me wrong. I still love the richness of language. In a message a few months back, we unpacked the beautiful thought of the indefatigable love of God, and I sensed those who were there connecting with the unfailing, relentless grace of Jesus. I also hope you have enjoyed the way I am sharing some of my story in this blog. But I must never forget the person/the audience I have in front of me at this moment.

Apparently, most people today communicate with a vocabulary of less than 2,000 words while relying on only 900 words in daily use.

I was refreshed when an African sister at church shook my hand with some fervor as she told me my choosing to speak slower than some other preachers she had heard allowed her to take so much more in. Let's even adjust our speed where it counts for someone.

My love of words must not supplant my love for the person I am with. Match the person I am with!

Have another read of the book of Luke for fresh insight into the heart of Jesus, and how He did it. See how he speaks to a religious leader in Nicodemus (John 3), then a woman at a well (John 4). He matched who He was with. The Word of God never lost touch with humanity.