Ernest Smith

Communicators…Don’t Be Careless

Creating a message is not an easy task, at least not if you want to create a dynamic, relevant, and transformational message.  It is the intent of this 5 part blog series to give a glimpse at the world of message creation. The first essential step in writing a message, which you can find in an earlier posting, is the ability to ask the right questions.  I noted that the best, right question to ask is “God, what do you want to say to your people?”  It is this question that sets the foundation of everything else.

After you begin your message creation by asking the right questions, the next step is to dissect a particular biblical passage.  Without a passage, the communicator is simply preaching one’s own beliefs.  Most of us would agree that this would not be the right way to preach a message that is supposed to have the authority of God, but there are so many communicators who fall into a trap that sends the communicator to a place from trusting in God for their points, to using God’s Word to prove a point.  There are many who say they are preaching God’s Word, but in reality they are simply trying to use God’s Word to bring greater “support” to the points of the message.

I wrote messages and preached for years using this style.  Instead of asking the question, “God, what do you want to say to your people?” followed up by “What passage do you want me to use in order to communicate that particular truth?” I would ask “God, what do the people need to know?” followed up with “Are there passages that support what I want to say?”  I wasn’t purposely trying to disrespect the Word of God, but now looking back on my messages, there were many times that I took a biblical passage out of context.  Again, I wasn’t intentional, but I was careless.

I believe, that if we are going to be communicators of truth, relevancy and authenticity, then we need to be men and women who are willing to not only ask what God ultimately wants to say to His people, but we must then search the Scriptures and allow our passage to drive the points, rather than the points drive the passage.