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Clarifying Your Message

You can make a case for turning people on, not off, by removing distractions that keep them from finding the real message of your church.

The gospel is not only a confrontational message but a healing and winsome message. It is too important to be hindered by thoughtless or careless ways of taking it to our communities. It is unwise to complicate a person's search for the kingdom of God by obscuring it with language, behavior, or methods that cloud the real message. For example, a child gave this confusing explanation of the game of baseball to his grandmother:

"You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's on the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in, and the next man goes in until he's out. When three men are out, the side that's out comes in, and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in out. When both sides have been in and out nine times, that's the end of the game."

Samuel Taylor Coleridge said, "Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon and the deeper it sinks into the mind."

I have eight suggestions for helping church leaders make their Christ-centered messages more people centered and attractive. May they be like soft-falling snow.

1. MODESTY IS MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN HYPE.

Getting and keeping a balance on appropriate dress, speech, and behavior should not be difficult for people in ministry. Laypeople have an honest appreciation for it. Following an era of religious glitz and glamour, the climate is right for a more culturally modest presentation of the church and its ministry to our communities. The great message of our Lord is most pleasingly told by humble, self-effacing voices. To take from the gospel's wholeness by inappropriate excess creates an unnecessary distraction for an already cynical world-a world that often wants and is willing to believe but is turned off by lifestyles that strut an unbiblical discord with Jesus' expectation for His church.

2. BREVITY IS MORE MEMORABLE THAN OVERSTATEMENT.

If "brevity is the soul of wit," then surely it's worth our notice. The hardest single hurdle for public speakers to clear is to present their message in a few words. Those who do, however, become favorites.

Don't overdose on announcements. People probably already know what's scheduled anyway. Precious minutes fly by, and you haven't preached yet.

When I have a great point to make in my sermon, I usually want to camp there and build three tabernacles. Give them a break. Don't spoil your goodwill with people by a total insensitivity to time. Most people are spiritually smart enough to know when the Spirit is moving, and then time becomes unimportant. They also know when it's time to close.

If you know you've prepared a long message and must have extra preaching time, cut back on something else to allow the time you need. Regularly rambling past appropriate stopping places will end up short-circuiting your effectiveness.

3. INSPIRATION STIRS THE SOUL MORE THAN COLD RITUAL.

Inspire people to acknowledge God's presence in their lives. Do it wisely. Be careful about unthoughtfully asking guests to remain standing for lengthy times while regular members sing choruses and songs.

The richest power flows through the Scriptures. The Word takes on life as the Holy Spirit anoints it, and the servant conveys its quality. Music heightens it to the soul. Exhortation drives it home. Testimonies amplify it. Congregations embrace it. And when the preacher's heart is on fire with it, the fellow who just walked in for a look around will leave with a "woe is me" response to it. Bring holy life to cold ritual. Awaken people to the Living Word.

Most people come to church from the secular workplace where they face a godless mind-set daily. Sometimes preachers live a cocooned life. They talk to Christians about other Christians and too often ignore the basic issues that affect most people. Don't get trapped into talking only about your pet peeves or ideas that miss the mark. Inspire confidence in your spiritual integrity by identifying the Word of God with the real concerns of the congregation.

P.T. Forsyth said: "It is into the Bible world of the eternal redemption that the preacher must bring his peopleþto every age it is equally near, and it is equally authoritative for every age, however modern. The only preaching which is up to date for every time is the preaching of this eternity, which is opened up to us in the Bible alone-the eternal of holy love, grace, and redemption, the eternal and immutable morality of saving grace for our indelible sin."

4. FRIENDLINESS IS BETTER THAN A COLD SHOULDER.

Most smiles are started by another smile. Don't let anyone get in and out of your church without being warmly received and embraced in a friendly way. Anytime people are greeted joyfully by those who seem genuinely glad to see them, even if other things are less than best, they'll likely leave wanting to come again.

At my daughter's grade school open house I saw a poster in the main hall that read: "Be nice today. You have nothing to lose except the miserable fun of being a grump." Keep your spirit in tune with your calling as a motivator of Christ-filled living. Be available after you preach. People want to touch you, hear your encouragement to them personally, and feel your spirit. Love them enough to help them overcome a moment-possibly that very moment-of discouragement by your affirmation and encouragement. Don't hide in your office when they've been waiting all week to see you. That's why you're there. Be a spirit lifter.

5. PREPARATION IS BETTER THAN WINGING IT.

Pascal said, "The last thing one knows is what to put first." Think about your preaching and get it in order before you stand up. It will not kill the inspiration. People come for your message. Don't disappoint them. Many come from a week filled with society's predisposition against the church. Turn that perception around by your preaching readiness. Always have a word from the Lord.

You can get away with poor preparation occasionally but not regularly. No pain is like the pulpit pain of a pastor whose brain shuts down in midsermon because it was not fed during the previous week.

On the other hand, high spiritual drama and great preaching come from one whose mind and heart have been searching, reading, writing, thinking, praying, and getting ready for the pulpit moment. You are full, overflowing, ready. What a fortunate congregation.

Mark Twain said, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is like the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." Careful preparation through the week gives you the chance to find the right words and strike with real lightning.

Be known as a Bible-centered preacher. Always refer people to the Living Word. Quote it. Tell its stories. Interpret it. Read it. Tell its truth. Show how it relates to the person on the street. People will come to hear you again. Those inquisitive Athenians told Paul, "We will hear thee again on this matter" (Acts 17:32).

"If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything you look at looks like a nail." It takes a full toolbox to build a house or fix a car. The same is true with a sermon. Paul urged Titus: "In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching [and preaching] show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about usþ. In every wayþmake the teaching about God our Savior attractive" (2:7-10, NIV).

6. A CONCRETE EXAMPLE IS MORE ILLUMINATING THAN ABSTRACT THOUGHTS.

A good story has great power and will drive home your point. Windows let in light. Have you noticed the quickened attention when you tell a good story-even a simple insight like the one I heard recently of a pastor illustrating the subject of personal holiness? He gave a brief history of India's Gandhi, then quoted a reporter's question during Gandhi's imprisonment: "What is your message, Mr. Gandhi?"

"My life is my message!" said the reformer. You could hardly miss the point.

Jesus' most profound teachings were centered in His stories. When He wanted to show what the kingdom of heaven was like, He said it was "like a man who sowed good seed in his fieldþ," "like a mustard seedþ," "like a treasure hidden in a fieldþ," "like a merchant looking for fine pearlsþ," "like yeast that a woman took and mixed it into a large amount of flourþ," "like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fishþ."

In an attempt at deep truth, don't forget to open the windows. Jesus did.

7. KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE TASK, NOT ON YOURSELF.

Management guru Peter Drucker told a business audience, "Keep your eye on the task, not on yourself. The task matters, and you are a servant."

The greatest question confronting us all centers on reaching the lost. Are you fulfilling your evangelistic mission? How many souls do you want to see won to our Lord this year-by you personally? by your church?

We must build a church atmosphere where it is safe to bring the unsaved-a place where members can count on their church to be friendly and their pastor to deliver a bold, thoughtful, well-prepared message from God's Word.

A layperson reported that he had been working and witnessing to his friend and finally got him to church. At altar time, he went to the pastor and said, "I've brought my friend to church and believe he's ready to accept Christ. Would you come over and pray for him?"

The pastor flushed, began to stutter, then pointed to a man on the other side of the church. "Go over and get [him]; he's good at that sort of thing."

It is a desperate moment for the church-we must revive our passion for reaching and winning lost people. Is our greatest weakness today a timidity in evangelism? Do we feed sheep more to fatten their seminar-seeking souls and appease their appetites to be blessed than to create in them a disciplined and lean spirit to assume the burden to bear other sheep?

Get outside yourself and into the nerve center of God's call.

8. POSITIVE ATTITUDES REWARD BETTER THAN NEGATIVE ONES.

A member of my congregation once gave me a poster that read, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!" Don't allow troubles, failure, and criticism to steal your future.

One pastor, upon reviewing his first 2 weeks at the church and having found financial and spiritual devastation, said to me, "It's going to be all right. We had 27 people in church Sunday and have no way to go but up. It's the acorn from which the mighty oak grows."

Methodist Bishop Richard Wilkie (in his book And Are We Yet Alive?) tells a story about Chaplain C.C. McCabe who developed a dynamic strategy of planting Methodist Episcopal churches across the country between 1868-84. One day he noticed a newspaper article about Robert Ingersoll, orator and agnostic, who had proclaimed that "the churches are dying out all over the land; they are struck with death." McCabe leaped off the train at the next station and fired off a telegram to Ingersoll: "Dear Robert: All hail the power of Jesus' nameþ. We are building more than one Methodist church for every day in the year and propose to make it two a day!"

Take your choice of attitudes: the 10 spies who brought a fearful, negative report about Canaan or the 2 who said, "Let us go up at once and possess itþfor we are well able to conquer it!" (Numbers 13:26-14:9, Living Bible).

"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy" (Psalm 107:2).

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13).

T. Ray Rachels is superintendent of the Southern California District.