From the 1975 classic “WHAT’S GONE WRONG WITH THE HARVEST” by James Engel
UNDERSTANDING DECISION PROCESSES
The gospel had been simply an abstraction to George and Sally. The statement “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” is indeed a most profound truth and therefore difficult for many to comprehend. Until this truth is made personal to one’s own life, to one’s unique struggles and joys, it is only an abstraction. The gospel communicator has the obligation to focus theological truth in such a way that it brings light upon each person’s unique situation. This, of course, cannot be done only by pontificating in the pulpit or by occupying the pew. Witnessing for Christ requires contact with people.
Unfortunately, evangelistic training in recent years appears to have neglected the decision-process perspective. Finely honed tools of persuasion, using precise language to explain gospel fundamentals, are neatly buttressed by appropriate Scripture references. Such tools are vitally necessary, but somehow the shift of focus has been away from people toward refinement of the message.
A true communicator never begins by focusing on other people as candidates for the gospel. Rather, he lives in an attitude of love, seeking to focus that love on the life of another so that the one who is the object of his love and concern can be set free. This requires sharply defined information in the following categories: (1) lifestyle and desires, (2) spiritual awareness, (3) attitudes toward the gospel, (4) decision-making styles, and (5) cultural norms and values.
Lifestyle and Desires
When Al Cranston and Chuck Richards had lunch with George, Al asked a very revealing question. He inquired, “George, what would you say is the one area of your life where you are hurting the most right now?”
George quickly replied, “I guess I would have to say that II don’t see any meaning in life at all. The longer I live, the less satisfied I am, and I just wonder if anyone cares.”
By this reply George revealed that he was another victim of the most pervasive problems of the modern era — loneliness and a sense of meaninglessness brought about by depersonalization. 1 This seems to be a natural accompaniment of a world of future shock in which the pace of change inhibits the ability to cope. He further indicated that those very things he once thought were so important no longer really mattered and that he was now desperately seeking real answers. Over a period of time Al and the others were able to use this knowledge under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to show George and Sally precisely how Christ could meet the needs they felt so deeply.
Everyone has certain basic desired states, which he strives to fulfill and satisfy. Some will use the term “needs,” 2 others call them “wants,” and still others will make reference to “basic motive patterns.” The precise terminology is completely unimportant; call these desired states what you will. What is most significant is that we understand something of what makes people tick and the implications for communication of the gospel.
One of the most helpful guides to understanding has been provided by psychologist Maslow, who has introduced the concept of a hierarchy of needs or desired states. 3 While his writings differ somewhat on the number of such needs, usually they fall into five categories as follows:
Physiological or bodily needs are foundational, and each of the others is considered to be of a different or higher order. The significance lies in the fact that no higher-order desired state will serve as a motivator until the levels below it are satisfied. The hungry man, for example, will not be very much interested in ideological discussions until h’ has had a good meal. Each level is full of significance in terms of understanding people.
Physiological. Into this category fall the basic bodily desires, such as hunger and thirst. If these desires are unsatisfied, all resources of the human being are focused toward satisfying them. The master communicator, Jesus Christ, was supremely aware of the hierarchy of needs. When physiological need dominated, He ministered at that point first through His healing touch. Somehow certain evangelical leaders have forgotten the example of the master communicator and have come to regard this type of social concern as being somehow secondary to communication of the gospel. But if the gospel we offer doesn’t minister to the whole man, then we are using only a caricature of the message practiced and taught by Jesus. No, let’s put our tracts aside when physiological need dominates and put first things first. Until we have demonstrated a proper concern at this level, we really are not serving as Christ’s spokesmen.
Safety. Man also has basic concerns about security, physical safety, and emotional assurance. There was a time, for example, when physical hardship greatly shortened life spans and rendered life on earth a bleak and frustrating existence. This still is the situation, of course, in some areas of the world, and it may become more widespread if food shortages and unemployment increase. Under such circumstances, it is quite proper to emphasize the great rewards of the next life. The joys of heaven and life after death can become a potent appeal of the gospel for the reason that present life has no lasting hope. The potency of this benefit wanes, however, insofar as such safety needs are met and the individual’s concern has evolved to a higher order of desire.
On the other hand, future shock conditions, rapidly bring modern man back to one aspect of the safety need and that is striving to maintain the known and familiar in a chaotic world. Consequently, change is actively resisted and the familiar is maintained at all costs. Into this turmoil comes the message of the gospel with its enormous promise of freedom from anxiety and turmoil for those who take the yoke of Christ, who never changes.
Belongingness and Love. When the desires for safety and physiological satisfaction are largely met, man seems to focus on a need to give and receive love. In so doing, perhaps for the first time one perceives the role of others as of paramount significance.
It is interesting to see the extent to which this level of need has come to be dominant in the post—World War II generation in North America. 4 The parents of today’s under-thirty generation were largely raised in the depression era of the 1930s, in which economic deprivation reigned supreme. Only a minority truly had these lower-order needs satisfied so that they ceased to be motivators. Not surprisingly, this generation carried a motivation for economic achievement over into the 1970s. A primary goal for them in life is economic success.
The offspring of the depression generation, however, seem to have quite a different outlook on life. Through the 1950s and 1960s their lower-order needs were largely met, and consequently the influence of these needs as motivators diminished. The result has been a focus on love and belonging, and if there is one area of significant current deprivation this seems to be it. The lifestyles of many parents oriented to different ends did not place the needed primacy on this area of life. As those in this generation have become young adults, this level of need still remains uppermost. In a sense, love is what is missing in George and Sally’s life.
God’s love and concern, when properly communicated, find receptive hearts when this area of need is keenly felt. Modern man in many quarters of the world also is yearning to know how to love others. It must be demonstrated, through our words and life, that the essence of the gospel is love and that this love takes on real meaning through healing marriages and other relationships.
Esteem. Very much related to belongingness and love is a desire for a sense of self-worth and self-respect. Nothing can be more devastating than going through life with a self-image rooted in frustration because performance misses the mark and we never can measure up. Into this void steps the living God who bases His acceptance on unconditional love and not on man’s performance. “I accept you just as you are if you come to me.” Nothing can be more liberating than to be released from the tyranny of perceived failure to a new self-image based on the certainty of God’s love.
Self-Actualization. According to Maslow, only a small handful of people reach the stage of self-actualization, that stage in which they can give themselves to ultimate individual fulfillment through creative activities. Most have yet to find their satisfaction at the lower levels. But once this higher stage is reached, new vistas of achievement are opened. In the final analysis, however, true self-actualization is not fully possible without the indwelling power of God, without that ability simply to know and enjoy Him. The higher-order needs of knowing and understanding and aesthetics are merely subsets of self-actualization.
The Significance for the Communicator. Admittedly, the Maslow hierarchy is not perfect, and one category probably blurs into another. Yet, it provides some important clues to the basic motivations of people. Furthermore, it is probable that entire segments of a population jointly experience common needs, and this is a real aid to pinpointed communication through the mass media. For example, an appeal to college-educated young marrieds under age thirty, could logically center on the values of love and self-acceptance and strike home with a large number.
This type of information can be gathered in many ways. One way, of course, is through observation as one comes to know another. So-called “friendship evangelism” is depreciated in some quarters, but it often is the only way to discover those points of need on which the healing ministry of Christ can be focused. Another method is through questions — either asked in person or through questionnaires if the mass media are to be used. Probes are made all around another’s life to find the sensitive areas, and so one may ask the following questions: “What is most important to you?” “Which of the following areas are of concern?” “How do you feel about … ?”
Once again, the gospel in theological abstraction is not the gospel at all. The communicator must find those bridges into the life of another, and an analysis of desires and lifestyles is the logical starting point. The task is to show precisely how these desires may be met through the person of Christ. Goodenough has sounded a warning of supreme importance when he stated that people will not change until they want to change, until that change is seen as beneficial in terms of their basic needs and desires.5
Leave a Reply