Language can be deceptive. The temptation is great in the United States to think that since we know how to speak English to Americans we should know how to communicate with people in America. That is the major reason many ministries are not connecting, we technically speak the same language, but don’t understand the people to whom we are speaking. For example, have you ever read copy in church advertisements like the lines below?
- “Join us this Sunday for anointed Holy Ghost preaching, dynamic praise and worship and intimate fellowship in the body”
- “At our church you will hear sound expository preaching on the doctrines of Grace”
- “We exalt the Savior, equip the saints, and edify the servants!”
- “Our church is a corporate outlet for truth-filled praise and worship!”
As Christians we may know what we mean by words like, “exalt”, “equip”, and “anointed” mean, but what do these things mean to the people who have never or rarely been inside the walls of a church? These sentences have meaning to evangelicals—but what do they really mean to uninitiated person?
How many advertisements, church signs, brochures, bulletins, websites have terms that a person would only understand if they had a background in the church. Much marketing coming out of churches today has messages that still have too many terms that people don’t understand. Often, the message requires more biblical literacy than is “out there” in the general public. You may think people know who Abraham and Isaac are, but they don’t. People in the general populace don’t know Paul from Timothy, or Sodom from salvation.
The scenario is much like the one Paul found himself in Acts 17. He stood before the Athenians, a people who had no understanding of the basics of the Bible. He knew he couldn’t start with Abraham and work his way to Jesus–he had to start where the people were. Ministry communicators need to take that same approach today.
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