Words Are Important

I haven’t had time to post much the last few weeks – work has been crazy busy; it’s all good though.  Because I spend almost all of my time either writing to donors and/or pastors or talking with same, I have become increasingly aware of how important it is to take care in how we communicate with one another.  

There was a time in the 80’s, thankfully short-lived, that taught aggressive, bold and to the point communication was the way to weave your way through the corporate maze, ultimately earning you the prize of moving up a wrung or two on the ladder to heaven knows what.  What was soon realized was that they only person that ever felt good about this type of communication was the overbearing, type A, corporate bull-in-a-China-shop manager. Pretty much everyone on the receiving end, as well as the bystanders listening in, felt that this type of verbal and/or written abuse was rude, counter-productive and demotivating.  

Wonderfully, but slowly, communication moved the path of communicating sensitively.  Sensitive communication sounds great – and it is most assuredly better than the nasty, aggressive variety, but what was learned using this approach is that if you communicate too sensitively in all situations, sometimes urgency can be lost when there is no time for it to be lost, or even post-poned for that matter.

A shift to a more centric, rational and clear communication style that engaged both sensitivity and clarity was the next and most helpful shift in communication style; or so it seems.  

Obviously I am over-simplifying and generalizing all that has happened in the world of communication training and genre, but the point remains true – words and how we use them are important.  

I have been drawn to the study and observation of how people communicate with one another because it is what I do for a living, and because it is given an unmistakeable place of prominence throughout the Scripture. 

This post will be continued because there is just so much to say – I especially believe that we who claim the title of “Jesus Follower,” should be held to a much higher standard than others when it comes to our interpersonal communication style.

Words can heal, they can inspire and they can cause mortal wounds – it would be good for us to choose carefully not only the words that we use, but also the tone, the manner and the inflection.   More later – Thanks for checking in – 

Churches Making a Difference

Most people who know me are aware of the fact that I work for a ministry that serves pastors.  I view our ministry as one that serves pastors, but ultimately a ministry that serves the church.  Healthy pastors tend to have healthy churches – churches that are active in their communities serving people across demographic lines; churches that are outward focused and that are taking risks and going far beyond the traditional food pantry, rescue mission, etc.  Absolutely nothing wrong with supporting food pantries and working at the local rescue mission. But what I find exciting is working with churches that are working in a state of controlled recklessness as they do new and “envelope pushing” ministries that serve people who are least considered and who always seem to fly below the radar.  

I have noticed an unscientific correlation between churches that are doing amazing things in their communities and their ongoing commitment to living outside the church walls – These are churches that go out of their way to ensure that their budgets reflect this outward focus, and I don’t mean foreign missions. Foreign missions is important, I would never argue that – I worked for World Vision and World Relief, I have seen firsthand how much good is done in the lives of people that are living in underdeveloped areas.

What I am talking about here are the churches that have not allowed their neighbors to go unnoticed.  They are not allowing their checkbooks to do the talking, they use their checkbooks to fund their personal involvement in their communities.  Really good stuff.  

I have been reading through a book by Ron Sider that offers up some great examples of churches that are doing significant ministry that fits and lifts up their communities.  If you have an interest in outward focused ministry that fits every size gathering of Believers you might want to have a look at Ron’s book.  You can find it at Amazon.  If you do buy books through Amazon, it would be great if you went to our ministry’s website at we have a partnership with Amazon where every book that is ordered through our website provides a donation to Pastors Retreat Network.  Enjoy the book!