Jerry’s Grill: Being True
By Ptr. Jerry Balbuena
‘Religulous’. No, you won’t find this word in your dictionaries but it does exist. It is a coined combination of the words religious and ridiculous and it is the title of the movie documentary released by comedian and talk show host Bill Maher. Christian broadcaster Chuck Colson responded to it by saying “This tells you what kind of world-view we are dealing with… the idea of the film is that if you’re religious, you’re an idiot.”
Colson goes on to say that Maher is “just trying to make his point basically by claiming that he’s right and editing out almost everyone and everything that might show that he’s wrong.” (Colson) In the end, the film simply shows the foolishness and the emptiness of worldly wisdom.
Every now and then we will receive news about articles, TV shows or films that attack biblical Christianity and mock our faith. I personally receive a overabundance of warnings and notices marked urgent, requests to sign a petition, a call not to watch a particular movie or personality, and on and on. The Bible is clear, however, that we don’t belong to this world. Our message is of a different and unique genre.
Instead of taking issue with the abovementioned film and its premise, I believe we will do well to consider instead how to properly communicate our faith and practice as “salt and light” of this world. Rick Warren, in one of his devotionals, came up with these three basic principles of good communication:
First, we must give up our assumptions. We must stop assuming we understand the meaning of what people say to us and vice versa. The truth is everything people hear goes through a filter. That filter is determined by their past experiences and their unique personality.
Proverbs 18:13 (NLT) says, “What a shame, what folly, to give advice before listening to the facts!”
Needless to say, our communication of the Gospel is also spiritual in nature. If we want to be effective then we must do what Jesus did - spend more time communing with God in prayer than we will communicating with people about our faith.
Second, we must give up our accusations. We will never get our point across by being cross. Anger and sarcasm only make people defensive and that kills communication. Here are four common forms of accusation:
· Exaggerating – Making sweeping generalities like “You never” or “You always.”
· Labeling or derogatory name calling – Labeling never changes anyone. It only reinforces the negative behavior.
· Playing historian – Bringing up past failures, mistakes, and broken promises.
· Asking loaded questions which really can’t be answered, like “Can’t you do anything right?”
Thirdly, we must give up our apprehensions. Fear prevents honest communication. It causes us to conceal our true feelings. We end up failing to confront the real issues. The two most common apprehensions are the fear of failure and the fear of rejection.
But real communication can happen when we face our fear and risk being honest. Freedom is the result of openness. Jesus said, “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32 NLT).
When the world openly mocks our faith and our message, let us not be dismayed. Rather, let us be challenged to communicate Christ properly to our critics by letting go of our assumptions, accusations and apprehensions, and setting aside Christ as Lord.
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