The other
night I was trying to explain my sermon to Tami by telling her that Jesus came
DOWN from heaven and then went OUT into the world. Thus, my sermon was entitled
“Down and Out.” As I was telling her this, Tami kept asking, “You mean when he
was a baby?” “No,” I said, “when he was older.” We went back and forth for a
couple of minutes until I realized that we were having a failure to
communicate. Tami thought I was talking about Jesus coming again (which was confusing
her), but I was just trying to explain why Jesus came into the world.
It is easy to have trouble communicating with others even though we have the
wonderful ability to speak and hear and understand. Sometimes we know what we
are saying, but don’t say it clearly enough for others to understand. This
happened to me when I first started to preach regularly. I knew what I wanted
to say in my sermon, but it didn’t always come out that way to the listener. So
now I preach my sermon to Tami on Saturday night to get feedback on anything
that might be confusing or unclear!
I have also noticed that when I try and speak to people about Jesus Christ and
Christianity that there can be a failure to understand what is said. This often
comes from people not having the biblical background to understand biblical
truths. It also can come from me expecting them to understand spiritual
concepts that might be beyond them.
So, what are we to do? I think the best way to communicate the message of Jesus
with others is to talk about who Jesus is to us, and what He has done in our lives.
I like to talk about how I was selfish in nature and sarcastic in my speech.
But then I met Jesus and realized that I need to care about others, not just
about myself. Or as the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain
conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own
interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
I also memorized Ephesians 4:29, which says: “Do not let any
unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building
others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Through the touch of Jesus on my life, the forgiveness of my sins, and the
realization that my words were important, I began to change who I was and
become more the person I was created to be. Hopefully now, through my story and
my actions, I don’t have a failure to communicate, but communicate well the
love of Jesus! Blessings.
