Leaders Communicate

Communication. When I was having difficulties with a major computer company (not affiliated with fruit) a few years ago, the Case Manager I was speaking to told me that the best he could do was give me a prorated reimbursement for my computer because it was used. It was sitting in a box; it never come out of the box. I asked him if I could speak to his supervisor. He said “no.” I asked if he had any superiors. He said, “yes, but they don’t speak with customers.” As it turns out, Jim was wrong on all counts. I tell you that little story to point out that this is never the case with a Christian leader. We not only have a Supervisor, but we need to be in communication with Him – and – those who follow us can also be in direct communication with Him. Once again, I reiterate that the most important characteristic of a good Christian leader is that he/she be a good follower. We are called to follow Christ and those leaders He puts in our lives. Then we are to be leaders to others.

There are several levels of communication that are important to the Christian leader.

1. Communication with God. John 17:20-21. Jesus prayed often. He prayed for Himself and He prayed for His followers.
2. Communication with those with whom we work. We have many methods of communication open to us today in the church. We have the www, email, phones (of all kinds; we don’t even have to be home to use them). On a less technical level, we have bulletin boards; a weekly bulletin with order of service and announcements. Most of those announcements are also given verbally from the pulpit. And yet, almost every week, someone will stand there and ask the pastor: what time is the family Bible Study?, etc.

Your big word for the day is “perspicacity.” Something that is perspicuous is something that is clear or evident. The doctrine of perspicuity of scripture is that God has made clear in His Word all that is needed for us to come to Him for salvation.

This was an important to the reformers of the 16^th century. They wanted the Scriptures to be written in the language of the people – and accessible to them because they argued that access to the Bible gave the average person in the pew (or in the society, for that matter) access to God. The focal point of their argument was that the Scriptures, which brought God to the people, were perspicuous.  God’s communication to us is clear and unmistakable as to what He wants us to do. So must our communication with one another be clear and understandable.

How do we do that?

Some general rules of communication for Christian leaders.  

• Be clear. READ Rom. 1:19-20. Make sure that you as author, make clear what you want people to do and when it should be done; or when the party is; or what the format is.
• Be inclusive.  READ John 3:19. Make sure that everyone who needs to be included in your communication loop is, in fact, included. If an opportunity for service or fellowship is open to all then that needs to be communicated to all; publicly. When we just tell a few people; we restrict access to that blessing. (People hide things when they are ashamed or when they want their own little club. Light is the great disinfectant). Use the church bulletin – get announcements to the appropriate person in a timely fashion.
• Be repetitive. READ Galatians 1:9; Philippians 3:1, 4:4. Paul and his repetitions. People don’t get it if they hear it or read it just once.
• Be creative. Genesis 1:1-3, 27;   God is a creative God. We are made in His image….Find new ways of getting your message out. Again, you have many means: phone, email; mail. Create a newsletter; a website, a blog.