I am currently reading a book called Tangible Kingdom. At times, as I read, I am feeling challenged and convicted; at other times I feel puzzled and confused. Although this book is so far, in so many ways, from my former ministry experience, I love the challenge and it is causing me to think and grow in many ways. I would love to read this book with some people and have a discussion about it because I have a lot of thoughts I’d like to filter through. I wanted to use some thoughts from this book as my first equipping for the Prophets and Teachers of our Gospel Communities. So, anyone can read this and comment, but I really would love to hear from specifically Prophets and Teachers. I will give you a few quotes from the book and then some of my thoughts:
“Posture represents attitude of the body: the nonverbal forms of communication that accompany what we say. As you may remember learning in your freshman interpersonal communication class, the nonverbals are more informative and honest than the verbal forms of communication.”
“Words communicate what we know; posture represents what we believe and feel.”
“Sometimes I wonder how we got to this point. Why did the pagan onlookers hold the early church in such high respect, but today’s non-Christians view the modern-day church with such disdain? I think one of the main culprits has to be our paradigm of evangelism. In the name of “getting someone saved,” we have primarily focused on communicating a message of truth to the world. There’s nothing wrong with that, except that we’ve prioritized the verbals over the nonverbals, the message over the method, that is to say, the proclamation over the posture. We assume that if we can just get the idea across, then it will be up to the person to respond, whether we do it correctly or not. Maybe we also think that in order to get God’s approving glance, it’s our duty to share “truth,” even if our modus operandi is “obnoxious for Jesus… and loving it.”
What he ends up addressing is a valid problem in the church. I was thinking how great this applies to our Gospel Communities – these are really a place where the teachers and prophets need to care about the non-verbals. We need to be willing to communicate the gospel but we need to be willing to posture ourselves so the people who are listening will receive what we are saying.
1 Peter 3:15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
This verse puts emphasis on the posture of honoring Christ. When you are honoring Christ people are going to have a question about the hope that is in you, and you need to always be ready to give an answer. These are the greatest teaching opportunities: the times that people are asking to learn, and you, because of your life and relationship, have shown that you know what you are talking about.
The authors of Tangible Kingdom, say to the people in their network, “We suggest to them that if people aren’t asking about their lives, then we haven’t postured our faith well enough or long enough”
So here is the point of all this for me and how I think this will help us in training as prophets/teachers in these Gospel Communities. We know that we need to be talking about Jesus a lot in these groups but I do not want us to miss the power of the non-verbals. I think what we can learn from 1 Peter 3:15, is that as a teacher in a Gospel community, we need to be prepared at all times to give an answer. We may not have had the time to prepare an outline or curriculum, but our best teaching times may be when someone sees our lives together as a community and wants to know about the hope that is in us. Then with gentleness and respect we need to be able to preach the gospel.
So the practical steps to this are, if we are teachers/prophets and want to use that gift in our Gospel Communities what must we do to be prepared in season and out?
1. Have a regular consistent time of reading/studying the Bible.
2. Be reading a book or training materiel to be sharpen your understanding
3. Be writing in a journal all your notes, revelations, and teaching ideas.
4. Be praying the Holy Spirit will give you opportunities to teach, that you would be bold enough to present it, and humble enough to have the right posture.
Ok guys lets all meditate on 1 Peter 3:15 and I would like all of you to send me a comment back on what God taught you out of this text and how it can make you a better teacher/prophet in your Gospel Community
This text speaks volumes to me in that “always being prepared” is not a state of rest in thinking or believing that we have arrived at a place to stop learning and then start teaching. Clearly to be a teacher we must also be willing to continue to learn, not to say that we are the best students, but we love to learn nonetheless. I can relate to how posture is so very key being an avid body language observer. Too often I catch others, including my self, saying one thing and projecting another with posture. God is telling me that I need to continue to learn His heart and be positioned to teach a believable lesson. In a way I look at discipleship as parenting. Our children will do what we do and say what we say, maybe not around us but it will come out of them. Likewise in revealing the growth of Christ in my life to others, the lesson does not stop when my lips do but continues in the observation by those I find myself instructing. Life lessons must be dealt with tenderly, this is where my grace peeps come in…
james thanks for the insight. I love what you said about posture and the idea of always being a learner. I think that is so important to being a good teacher. Thanks bro!
Wow, this really challenges me, as one who has never put much stock into body language. I often thought that too much emphasis was put on it. But, as the author writes, I’ve prioritized proclamation over posture. After reading the scripture in 1 Peter, I had to ask myself, how do my non-verbal actions honor (or dishonor) Christ? How can I posture myself to represent and honor Him?? I just kept thinking about Jesus on the cross…his arms open wide, laying down his life for us. In the same manner, we should open our arms to everyone we meet. I’m not saying we should hug everyone that gets close enough, but I think that human touch is important. I think that personally, I need to open my arms a little wider and become more welcoming in my approach when talking with someone…and not just talking TO someone. As Christ laid down his life for us, I see that I need to lay down my pride, arrogance, and selfish motives and expectations. And just as He has risen, I need to rise up in gentleness and reverence. These are huge challenges for me, personally, but I have some people in my community who are amazing examples of this, that I can learn from.
Deb, Historically I am not one who prioritizes the nonverbals either. I was thinking of what that looks like as a teacher and you are right it looks like Jesus. I love your insight on this deb. I love the idea of opening our arms to one another. Thanks for the thought and challenge.
The opening of this verse- “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy..” meaning understanding His perfection, or rather a reverence for Jesus would naturally lead us in to abiding in Him and seeking His will. I recall the “Carnivorous” sermon series from 2008 and abiding in God the Son by the power of God the Holy Spirit and being finely sensitive to Him and how He leads with words and actions. I am learning slowly but surely, that this takes a great deal of communication with God through prayer and study of the bible- DAILY.
The more willing we are to lose our own lives and submit ourselves to Him, I believe He will move freely through us and draw others to Him.
Practically speaking- submit to God, seek Him, study His character and be transformed by it. Others WILL see.
That is good brett. The flow of the verse also leads us to be ready in season and out to be ready to give a answer for the hope of Christ. I agree 100% when we are abiding and we will be transformed and ready. Thanks man for the feed back.
I love that verse because it implies that we have come to realize that our identity is hidden in Christ and that he, resident in us by the Holy Spirit, is our hope of glory. Being ready to give an answer for that implies a humbleness of heart and a willingness to get outside our own stuff for the sake of others.
As for non-verbals, those who attended the communication Life Class will remember the math of a message: 7% words, 38% tone, and a whopping 55% body language. Words have their value, but we believe behavior. We want congruence between what is said and what is seen for the sake of testimony with integrity.
I love the stats that really does emphasize the importance of nonverbals.
I know that sometimes in our own desire to get the word and message across we miss the person right in front of us. There is more to understand than just preaching the gospel. Usually the person you are talking to and presenting this hope to is hurting, empty, maybe confused and is possibly even purposefully paying attention to how you speak and act because they are skeptical about this sort of thing. We are already fighting against so many things…. I think that what it really comes down to is, Do I really love this person the way Christ would? Do I really care? Or am I doing it out of duty or because I know it’s what I’m supposed to do? If our non-verbal communication is not indicating the same as our verbal communication then where is the problem. Have you ever tried to lie? Usually what gives you away is not the words coming out of your mouth but your non-verbal communication. Why? Because it is a lot easier to say what you choose to, but to force your body language to change is very difficult. So there must be a heart level check in us whenever something like that happens. Instead of saying “I must work on my posture”, why not really ask “what is wrong in my heart?” When you love someone your posture shows it. If we truly love those we are speaking to, then our posture will follow… Pride is one way to quickly destroy non-verbal attempts to show love…
Excuse the length of the comment, it was supposed to be short. Any comments on my comment?
Rick that is really good. All of this is really heart level. We can not make our posture change we have to be asking for the work of the Holy Spirit to change our hearts. I really enjoy the thought and the examples. you have a really good point. Thanks.
Not only are we there as a vessel for God to use in ministering to this person, they are there for us! Think about it, the Word is a double-edged sword. It cuts both ways. If you are having trouble posturing yourself, maybe God has that person in front of you for YOU! Hello! It is one way God forces us to…work out your own salvation” (Phil. 2:12)
HELLO! good stuff.
Rick that is a very comprehensive way to view it. That is sweet- thinking about when you see a liar and can tell by their body language, or posture. I have never thought of it that way, it really pus posture into a good perspective. it shouldnt only come from duty (although we are called to labor) but a natural, organic way of living according to the grace that has been given. Thanks for that!