The Talk Place

Blogs with inside information and personal opinions from GRN members around the world

Communicating the Gospel

Anton Meyer - Wednesday 01 April 2015

A very good friend said to me one day: "Preach or tell the Gospel every day and if it is absolutely necessary and completely unavoidable, use words!" Well, what now? I am working with an organization whose primary form of communication is words or rather recordings of words. Yes, it is true, we do have pictures for some of our recordings, but somehow I don't think that that is what Derek meant when he implied visual communication. He was talking about what can be called, "The Living Testimony or The Living Witness." Acts chapter 1:8 says:"... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses ...... to the ends of the earth."

A changed life is the first sign we look for in a "new" Christian, because that is what we can see and not just what we are told. What constitutes a changed life? Is it something that can be faked? I am reminded of a friend who always seemed to have a hard expression on his face. He had this tough guy image that never slipped. When he came to a new life through Jesus Christ he was still the same man. Still tough in every way but somehow also less severe and approachable. Gone was the warning fist in the air, the one finger salutes and the outward signs that were his “stock in trade”. So, I don’t think it can be faked. Even as Christians we still make mistakes. The difference is Christ in our lives and that makes all the difference in the world. So we do in effect become witnesses for Christ from the first moment we are “saved” from destruction and eternal death. How does that apply to the recordings we use to tell people who have never heard the Gospel in their heart language?

The first thing we were taught on an intensive radio “techniques” course was to employ the “Theatre of the Mind” in our radio programmes. This term was as foreign to me then as it must be to some who are reading this. It is the creation of a “mind picture” through description that in turn creates understanding. This description often includes sound effects to enhance the picture, but is always basic and easy to understand. The mind is a truly wonderful creation of God. We all have the same basic organ with the same connections and yet each of us is different. Each mind is as unique as our fingerprints or the retinas of our eyes and yet each group exposed to the same circumstance identifies with others of that group to establish yet another unique identity. Each script we write and each program we record and produce must take account of all these idiosyncrasies. It is the only way in which we can effectively appeal to that theatre which will paint the picture that will trigger a response and the picture is so much clearer in their heart language!