Next level communicators understand that all of life is preparation.
Next level communicators understand that all of life is preparation.
One of the most frequent questions I’m asked is how long does it take me to put a message together? My response is less than helpful: All of life is preparation. This is the one thing next level communicators understand about preparation, because when we speak, we are communicating from our head, hearts and a lifetime of experience.
John Wesley, an eighteenth century transformational communicator, was once asked why so many people came to hear him preach. He is said to have responded, “When you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see you burn.” What Wesley meant by setting himself on fire, is how his faith played a daily, vital role in his development and growth as a communicator. For John Wesley, this was the key to his next level communication. People were drawn to him not just because of his intellect, stories or well organized presentation. Wesley said what drew people to his preaching was his life set a blaze in deep conviction by the very truths he was seeking to convey to his audience. The hour or so that he spoke, came from a life that had fully bought into the message.
Next level communicators are all in on the message they are passing onto their audience.
So how do we get to a place where we set ourselves on fire so people can come and see us burn? Over the years, I have found the following to be essential:
Sin will dampen the fire. I’m a Christian. I’m also a preacher. If there’s one thing I have found out the hard way it’s that no matter how good your presentation is, when I am not living out the truths I’m seeking to pass on, something is off with the message. Sure, I understand that God’s Word is “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12), and that His Word will not “return empty” (Isaiah 55:11). Yes, there’s a power in the Word of God independent from the life of the communicator. And yet, somehow, someway, these two things are connected- the unleashed efficacy of the Word and the commitment of the preacher to grow in holiness.
Cultivating a daily walk with Christ is the best communication preparation we can ever do. What does this look like for me? Every day I commit to spend an hour in prayer and bible reading with God. I split this hour up in three twenty minute blocks. The first twenty minutes involves (in this order) prayers of gratitude, confession and then meditation on a passage of Scripture. The second twenty minute block centers around me reading through the Bible, and stopping to pray over verses that catch my attention. And the final twenty minute block is intercession- me praying for others. I have a prayer journal that I work through weekly, praying for my family, government, church, and a host of other people and needs.
Evening reflection. I try to end the day by journaling reflections on the day's events, confessing sin to God, and praising him for ways I have seen him show up that day.
Weekly fasting. Once a week I fast from food. If I can be honest, I hate doing this, and I never look forward to fast days, but that’s why I do it. Fasting is not a good luck charm for me (By the way, John Wesley fasted twice a week), but a way to declare to God that I desire Him more than food. It’s a purifying experience which keeps me in a posture of prayer throughout the day.
I have found when I am committed to these rhythms there is a depth to my preaching which feels…worshipful, and truly transformational for myself and the audiences I speak to.
What I’m reading:
Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church, Hahrie Han.
The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi, Wright Thompson.
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