Austin Bible Church
Jesus Christ The Communicator
The purpose of the communication of Christ was to teach and to preach. Matt. 11:1.
"When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities." (Matthew 11:1, NASB)
Christ’s communication in answering John’s disciples was to tell them to report to John, who was in prison, a description of what they will see or have seen and heard. Matt. 11:2-4.
"Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see:" (Matthew 11:2-4, NASB)
Christ’s communication to the crowd in Matthew 11:7-10 was to ask them; “What did you go out to see? A reed shaken in the wind? What are you looking for?” Personality does not make the man. “What did you go out to see? Clothes, soft clothing?” The dress does not make the man. “What did you go out to see? A prophet, someone who could tell you signs and wonders you are always looking for? Someone to satisfy your curiosity?” Anyone will go to a prophetic conference. The title or office does not make the man.
"As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? "But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings' palaces! "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. "This is the one about whom it is written, 'BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.'" (Matthew 11:7-10, NASB)
Opposition to Communicators
The human status of a communicator is not an issue in the Word of God. Grace makes the man. John the Baptist had the job of a communicator. The Word makes the man, therefore he communicates the Word. When you have a communicator made by the Word, made by grace, then you will have direct opposition.
Opposition to the message of the communicator is always opposition to the grace principle. True opposition is not the needling concept when you bring it on yourself. Communicators communicate to be heard. The ones having ears are to keep on listening. Persistence in learning doctrine makes the man. Don’t give up.
The communicator will expose his audience. Children sitting in the street in the markets. Jewish unbelievers. Calling to their friends means “complaining” to their friends. We blew our horn, but you wouldn’t dance. We sang our dirges, but you wouldn’t cry. There are some people that communicators can never please. John was the ascetic type. John was a total abstainer. Jesus was the grace type. Jesus both ate and drank. You have to get over the concept of trying to please people. Matt. 11:16.
""But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children," (Matthew 11:16, NASB)
The communicator directed His message to the cities in which He ministered, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. The communicator recognizes the Father’s plan to use the unlearned in human eyes to do His job. Matt. 11:25.
"At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants." (Matthew 11:25, NASB)
The communicator, pastor-teacher, must reveal Christ from the Scriptures just like the Son must reveal the Father in His person. The communicator, in doing the will of God, brings refreshment to those having rapport relationship with him. The communicator reveals his true self to be mild, meek, and lowly. His commandments are easy, his burden is light. Matt. 11:27.
""All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." (Matthew 11:27, NASB)
As a communicator, Paul knew that the Galatians needed to face squarely their problem in all of its reality before he could advance in solving it. Therefore, he nails them with it from the start in Galatians 1:7.
“which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.” (Galatians 1:7, NASB)
Paul knew that when you face people with their problem, they would counter with resistance to the motivations and message of the man. He knew that when people have personal problems, they respond to a communicator in various negative ways. They question the communicator’s ability to really understand their problems. They question the communicator’s motives for correcting them. They may feel the communicator thinks too highly of himself. They may question the communicator’s ability to really understand their beliefs.
Paul knew how to use his background as well as theirs to pin the legalistic tail on the donkey. He knew celebrityship was not the issue, therefore he didn’t go about to try to establish himself. He knew how to properly set the stage to pull the people out of their problem after stating it dogmatically to them. He teaches them a principle using an illustration of their problem at Jerusalem. Gal. 2.
Paul knew how to deal with those who came in to spy on him. He didn’t give them a chance to even get started. He knew the relation of his spiritual gift to the problem of Peter. This is the concept of spiritual gift, checks and balances. This concept is deficient in most churches. They rely on organizational authority to take the place of spiritual gift function. He knew the necessity of public censure of doctrinal or practical departures. This problem was open to all, therefore, the solution had to be corrected before all.
As a communicator, Paul knew how to use all the techniques of communication. He used logic, argumentation, rhetorical questions, allegory, analogy, systems of parallels, etc. He knew that after teaching the doctrinal content on a problem, you have to apply it specifically to those needing it. It is one thing to teach the contents of a doctrine objectively, and another thing to apply it from a shepherd standpoint to your congregation. Gal. 3:1.
“You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?” (Galatians 3:1, NASB)
Paul knew the principle of using the weapons of the enemy to wipe them out. Abraham was their hero, so Paul used Abraham to convict them. They championed the Mosaic Law, then the Mosaic Law was what condemned them. They claim the blessing of Abraham, but the blessing came through promise. He knew how to deal with a specific problem by weighing it against an Old Testament frame of reference which was common to both he and they. He knew how to take a distorted issue, which was serving as a tool to ruin the Galatians spiritually, and clarify it so they could better understand their entire spiritual growth and maturity process.
Paul knew that to deal with a practical problem, you have to begin with the doctrine of Positional Truth. He takes them back to their common relationship and starts them thinking over again. He knew how to progress in communication and pace his content. Having taken them back to their position in Christ, he started them over on the road to maturity, by an illustration and more doctrine. He knew that the specific fruit of their legalism had to be brought out as living proof of their problem.
As a communicator, Paul knew that it was vital to communication to make it clear that he was troubled and seriously questioned their progress. However, he also made it quite clear that he was not simply attacking them in a vindictive way to get even. He made it clear that they had not hurt him, only themselves.
He knew the real source of their problem. Not only was he able to pinpoint the problem as to its nature, but also its source, how it was being carried out, and who was responsible for the whole operation. Gal. 4:17.
“They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them.” (Galatians 4:17, NASB)
As a communicator, Paul knew that when a problem based on the violation of a principle is clarified, the true understanding of the principle has to be also clarified. The problem was a wrong use of the Law, therefore, he had to explain the right function of the Law. Their problem was that they were carried away by the wrong use of the influence of others, therefore, he has to tell them that there is a right use of the influence of others. It is proper to be influenced by others, if for the right reason.
He knew that a problem such as legalism will destroy much of what has been learned, therefore, he has to go back to the very beginning of the spiritual growth process and get them started over again. He understood that people understand truth better if it is given in some relation to that which they are already familiar. You build the unknown on the known. Paul knew that it was necessary for believers in the Galatian churches to not only know true liberty, but to stand in it. As there is the exegesis content, so there is the application content. The concept of the parable teaching of the Lord, the explanation, the application are illustrations of this principle. Gal. 5:1.
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1, NASB)
As a communicator, Paul knew how to deal with the inconsistency of content of the faith of the Galatians. On the one hand, they were crying, “keep the Law,” but on the other hand they were taking only a few of the Law principles and applying them. This is similar to the Seventh Day Adventist practice. They subscribe to certain laws concerning what they think is still the Sabbath, but omit the whole concept of the priesthood, the sacrifices, the land, etc., which are also parts of the whole Law.
He recognized that to be justified by anything except faith and grace, renders your justification in vain. The parallel in the spiritual life would be justification or vindication in the ministry with statistics, programs, and or anything that the world of religion would accept as a bonafide justification of your ministry. He knew that those who begin well and continue for some time will not always finish. This is the reality of people getting off track. Paul acknowledged that they did run well, but noted in a question, who had stopped them?
Paul knew that the little foxes spoil the grapes and a little leaven will leaven the whole lump. Paul had to point this out to the Galatians who apparently thought that these small things were so insignificant that they would be no harm. He took a dim view toward those who adversely affected his sheep. All real communicators are jealous for their classes, audiences, and sheep. He knew that certain doctrines when understood may give people a false impression on how to apply them. For example, for the doctrine of Eternal Security, people for decades have arrived at wrong conclusions about those who hold this truth. Paul therefore knew that he had to check the wrong use of liberty before it materialized.
As a communicator, Paul understood the entire expression of the old sin nature as well as the ministry of the Spirit of God within a believer. He understood that the spiritual life of an individual believer is complicated by the fact that he lives in a world that contains other people who also have old sin natures. Therefore, Paul did not just give them exegesis content, but in Galatians 6 he made it very practical in their daily lives. He knew the temptations that all believers have to straighten out the supposed erring brother. This was true then and is still true today. However, he made it clear that isolation is not the answer. In Galatians 6:2-4, Paul made it clear that we do have a responsibility and contribution to others.
“Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.” (Galatians 6:2-4, NASB)
Paul knew that believers as well as others can brainwash themselves into thinking that they can get by with the violations of doctrine principles. He reminds them of the laws of harvest and what you plant will eventually come up.
He knew well first hand that one of the common hazards for believers in the Christian way of life was the temptation to give up and not patiently endure. The concept of growing weary had been upon him many times, so he could understand the principle of endurance. He realized the two-fold responsibility of the believers in the local church, to the community, and also to the household of faith, or the local church. This he places in the same verse and context of having divine good production.
As a communicator, Paul knew that the reasons why people try to get you to do something is not always because they enjoy doing it, or that it will prosper you, but it will just serve to buttress their position or status or take the pressure off of them in some way. Paul in closing realized that it is vitally important to close the record by diverting any attention from himself, and therefore, to the Lord. It is a good principle to follow, to leave as the final concept the “glory of the Lord,” and not the glory of the communicator, or the baseness of the audience.
The Hazards of the Communicator in His Home
The communicator usually is always able to articulate his thoughts. Often the wife of a communicator does not share this ability, therefore, can develop an inferiority complex in conversation. The communicator usually is always able to communicate without being interrupted. Conversation in the home however, is not monologue, but an exchange. This can greatly bother the man.
The communicator usually still has a good vocabulary even out of fellowship. Anyone trying to converse with him while he is out of fellowship would no doubt be completely overwhelmed by the communicator. The main stream of the communicator’s work is presentation in monologue. Conversation is dialogue generally speaking when involving the husband and the wife.
The communicator usually speaks out of definite prepared content and may vary the presentation as the Holy Spirit leads him in communication. On the other hand, conversation in the home is the spontaneous expression of two souls, two minds, and two vocabularies. This can cause problems for the man.
The communicator has several levels of intensity at his disposal when he is communicating to a congregation. If a communicator employs these principles at home with his wife in normal conversation, she may think that he is attacking her verbally, or maybe he is.
The communicator is still a communicator at home and the wife always has to realize that he doesn’t drop his spiritual gift at the door of his church office, like a businessman can his brief case. This does not have to be a problem, but often it is.
The communicator is used to communicating objectively without regard to the feelings or responses of his audiences. If he follows the same procedure with the wife, he will find that she is very much a responder and probably has tender feelings, which the man may or may not remember for the moment. This can cause a lot of hurt feelings that are unnecessary. The audience of the communicator is such to give them maximum privacy, but conversation between husband and wife doesn’t leave much for privacy, she applies what you say to her.
The content of the communication in the ministry is determined by the Holy Spirit in study, while the content of the conversation between husband and wife is a product of stimuli either from one or the other or a third party. The quantity of communicating may cause the man to not want to talk and this may lead the wife to conclude that he is upset, worried, or has a problem of some nature. He may want to talk, but not about what she wants him to.
The study pressure of the communicator may cause him to be preoccupied in his thinking enough times for the wife to “not get through to him.” This may cause her to say “What’s the use, he doesn’t care anyway.” Wrong. He does, but just not hearing 100%. The communicator is built to communicate, therefore things that the wife does which interrupt his study or his communication process may become “roots of bitterness” in the man toward the woman. This is the man’s problem, but it really can happen.
The contents of conversation in the home often are the factors which pose the problems. Here are some areas to clarify the content of conversation. Conversation might center on the content of the Word and its application objectively. It might center on the content of the Word in a current home problem. It might center on each other (very vital). It might center on the normal things of mechanical life like kids, problems, house, and activities.