Mike Riddel implores his readers to
give true representation of who Jesus is when communicating evangelistically.
Riddel grieves that when “Christ is perceived as being the icon of good and
respectable people, this has little relevance to peoples sordid and tangled
lives.”[1] Jesus who lived and died as a `friend of sinners’ has been translated
into simply the judge of sinners, along with the church. Jesus has to become
accessible to the common people. Jesus own treatment of himself can give us
clues as to how to best communicate. Some support the premise that Jesus
expounded scripture in the temple. (Luke 4:16-13) while others believe Jesus
preaching was often less structured, using a variety of creative methods. The
setting was often the open air. Jesus used visual aids, poetry, humor,
gestures, and silence, with the frequent avoidance of dogmatic answers to
questions. It can be concluded that Jesus emphasis was often on how to think,
not what to think.
The power of story was a
key aspect of Jesus’ communication, stories carry our attention, and engage our
emotions and serve as an effective memory aids Warren maintains.[2] Jesus
employed narrative to great effect, sixty parables representing one third, of
Jesus’ recorded communication. Most of Jesus’ engagement was in the form of
dialogue arising from debates, discussions, with religious experts, his
disciples and those he met on his travels. Their questions and issues formed
the basis for his response.
Jesus
usually taught in response to a question or a pressing problem from someone in
the crowd. He scratched where people itched. His preaching had immediacy about
it. He was always relevant and always on target for that moment. When Jesus preached his first sermon
at Nazareth, he read from Isaiah to announce
what the preaching agenda of his ministry would be: "The Lord has put
his Spirit in me, because he appointed me to tell the Good News to the poor. He
has sent me to tell the captives they are free and to tell the blind that they
can see again. God sent me to free those who have been treated unfairly and to
announce the time when the Lord will show his kindness." (Luke 4:18-19
NCV)
Notice his entire emphasis on
meeting needs and healing hurts. Jesus had Good News to share, and people
wanted to hear it. He had a message that offered practical benefits for their
lives. His truth would “set people free” and bring all sorts of blessings to
their lives.
We need to go beyond the traditional expository model. Within the
context of teaching the church the truths of God, the Traditional model can be
very effective, however in terms of preaching which has mission at its heart we
must find new forms.
Jesus was referred to as `Rabbi’ and was trained and able to
preach in an expository manner. Nevertheless this was no badge of privilege to
him and he easily adapted his style to his audience and their needs. I am
convinced that through experience and studying the way Jesus preached, meeting
people’s needs where they are is the most effective form of evangelistic
preaching. In the western post Christian world, evangelistic preachers may have
to use the Traditional model as the basis of their own understanding.
[1] Riddell Mike, Threshold Of The Future. Washington DC: Capital Books, Inc, 1998.
[2] Warren Rick, The Purpose Driven
Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House1995