Leaning Forward: Communication

How we communicate is important. That's why the learning curve for churches is so steep, the challenge of learning to speak the language of the culture. It's become something of an obsession too, the how of communication. Preaching, teaching and disciple making are suddenly enhanced by social media, live streaming, video feeds, and all the nuances of telling the story twenty-first century style. In fact, the how question may have eclipsed other more important considerations in this dialogue. At some level, the what question may have gotten squeezed into a small corner, over- shadowed by You Versions, Instagrams, text messaging, and live polling.

Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought-forms of that setting.
Francis Schaeffer
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Francis Schaeffer said, "Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought-forms of that setting". This has been the challenge of church leaders on the ground in every culture, nation, and mission locale, relating the truth of His word in ways that penetrate the special barriers of human diversity. It's been especially troublesome in speaking millennial, the dialect of the generational cohort born from the late 1970's through the early 2000's.

This generation is suddenly the largest population group among America's six living generations, and the least connected to the traditional church. So, spiritual groups, including traditional Christian congregations and denominations, have gone to school on ways to break through the communication barriers to them. Authenticity seems to be the central talking point in this regard. But, there are add-ons too: reality faith, story telling, wise use of humor, testimony of changed lives, irreverence, frankness, technology, and more.

Underneath the desire to connect is a more basic fact. It is that the truth of the Gospel always communicates. History records the effective transmission of the Good News in every nation, among every people group, in every generation, to every sub- catorgory of human diversity, and the strata of every socio-economic layer. How the message is proclaimed has always been secondary to the clarity of the message itself. Paul became all things to all people in faithfulness to the Gospel message. It is the power of God for salvation, that which transforms lives, moves people to Christ. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So, underneath the dilemma of trying to speak a generation specific language, is the truth that the Good News spoken by a person who has truly experienced it will always translate.

The cool stuff---great music, clever phrasing, story-telling gifts, humor, real life illustrations, video clips, and all the other angles that help us transmit the message, are methodological means of putting us into the conversation. Our intro must be fresh and up-to-date. They get us to the table. But, they are not the message.

He is the message. If He is lost in the verbal calisthenics, then the methods just may be wrong. What is more, if the messengers get better press than the message, that's another problem for another day.

Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought-forms of that setting.

Francis Schaeffer

Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought-forms of that setting.

Francis Schaeffer

Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought-forms of that setting.

Francis Schaeffer