Communication (Part 1)

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Communication (Part 1) I. Definitions 1. Communication n. – 1. The action of communicating or imparting. Now rare of things material, except as the vehicles of information: e.g. of a letter, a paper to a society, an article to a magazine, etc. 2. spec. The imparting, conveying, or exchange of ideas, knowledge, information, etc. (whether by speech, writing, or signs). 4. Interchange of speech, conversation, conference. 2. Communicate v. – 1. trans. To give to another as a partaker; to give a share of; to impart, confer, transmit (something intangible or abstract, as light, heat, motion, a quality, feeling, etc.). 2. spec. a. To impart (information, knowledge, or the like); to impart or convey the knowledge of, inform a person of, tell. (cites Gal 2:2) 3. Impart v. – 1. trans. To give a part or share of; to make another a partaker of; to bestow, give, communicate. 4. Conversation n. – 1. The action of living or having one’s being in a place or among persons. 7. Interchange of thoughts and words; familiar discourse or talk. II. We were designed by God to communicate with others. 1. We are communicative creatures because we are created in the image of God (Gen 1:27; Jam 3:9) who is a communicative being. A. God communed with men personally (Gen 18:33; Exo 25:22). B. God spoke to men through prophets and His Son Jesus Christ (Heb 1:1-2). 2. The Bible extols face-to-face communication, and so should we (2Jo 1:12; 3Jo 1:13-14). 3. Texting, emailing, social media, and even talking on the phone are no substitute for face-to- face communication. III. Communing 1. Commune v. – II. Current senses, now always commune. 6. intr. a. To talk together, converse. b. To confer, consult (with a view to decision). 7. intr. To hold intimate (chiefly mental or spiritual) intercourse (with). 2. Communing with someone reveals what is in his mind (Gen 23:8-11). 3. The queen of Sheba communed with Solomon of all that was in her heart (1Ki 10:2). 4. In order to commune intimately with others, we must first commune with ourselves so that we know ourselves and have a thought-out philosophy of life on which to base our thoughts in conversation (Psa 4:4; Psa 77:6; Ecc 1:16). IV. Communication skills are necessary to impart thoughts and information to others effectively. 1. The gospel is transmitted from one person to another by verbal or written communication (Gal 2:2). A. Notice from Gal 2:2 that to effectively communicate the gospel (or anything) to others, it is not only necessary to transmit the facts to other person, but also to do so at an opportune time and in a manner that will increase its likelihood of being received.  B. To communicate our faith to others effectively, we must be humble and acknowledge that every good thing in us is in Christ Jesus (Phm 1:6). 2. Communication skills are necessary to negotiate, especially from a position of weakness. A. Abraham had a conversation with God in an attempt to negotiate the sparing of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 18:20-33). B. Notice the communication skills Abraham employed while negotiating with God. i. He reasons from the concept of justice (v. 23). ii. Having the under hand, he begins his negotiation with a reasonable offer that is not likely to be rejected (v. 24). iii. He appeals to God’s righteousness (v. 25). iv. Having made it through round one, he precedes with humility (v. 26-28). v. He builds off of previous successes, incrementally asking for more while continuing to humble himself (v. 29-31). vi. He has the wisdom to know when to stop (v. 32). V. Some tips on communication 1. Not all questions need answered. A. Jesus with the Samaritan woman i. When conversing with the Samaritan woman, Jesus repeatedly ignored her distracting questions and directed the conversation where He wanted to take it (Joh 4:7-16). ii. This is a good tactic to use when witnessing to others about Biblical things. iii. Don’t let them derail the conversation with irrelevant questions. iv. Just ignore them, or say that we can get back to that later. B. Jesus with freeloaders i. After getting a free lunch, some of the unbelieving Jews tracked down Jesus on the other side of the sea and asked Him when He got there (Joh 6:25). ii. Jesus ignored their question and told them that they were not seeking Him because of the miracles He did, but because of the free food (Joh 6:26). iii. Don’t waste time answering questions from people who are not seeking Jesus for the right reason. iv. Note: if churches give out free meals to the public, they should expect to get freeloading “followers” of Christ. C. Jesus witnessing to unbelieving Jews i. When Jesus received a question from those who did not believe on Him, He ignored it and instead told them what to do (Joh 12:34-40). ii. We need not to answer the questions of those who are not honest inquirers. D. Nehemiah with the enemies of the Jews i. When Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, some of his enemies tried to get him to come down and meet with them (Neh 6:1-2). ii. Nehemiah perceived that they thought to do him mischief and declined their request, saying that he was doing a great work and would not stop to waste his time with them (Neh 6:3). iii. Never take time away from what you should be doing to talk with people who are going to waste your time.  iv. They repeated their request four times, to all of which Nehemiah gave the same response (Neh 6:4). v. Don’t bother coming up with new ways to decline the repeated requests of fools; just keep repeating your answer. E. Ignore stupid questions. i. Foolish and unlearned questions, genealogies, and strivings about the law should be avoided, not entertained (2Ti 2:23; 1Ti 1:4; Tit 3:9). ii. Don’t strive over words to no profit, but only engage in conversations with the intent of subverting the hearers (2Ti 2:14). iii. Shun profane and vain babblings (2Ti 2:16). iv. Don’t give heed to Jewish fables (Tit 1:14). v. Refuse profane and old wives’ fables (1Ti 4:7). vi. These verses are written to pastors and make it clear that they do not need to entertain and answer all questions they receive, especially stupid ones. 2. It’s not wrong to “play dumb” and ask questions you already know the answer to. A. Jesus on the road to Emmaus i. After His resurrection, Jesus walked with two men to Emmaus, during which He acted as if He did not know what they were talking about (Luk 24:13- 19), even though they were talking about Him. ii. Jesus “played dumb” in order to get them to elaborate so that He could preach the gospel to them (Luk 24:25-27). B. Jesus with the Samaritan woman i. Despite knowing that the Samaritan woman was in a relationship with a man who was not her husband (Joh 4:17-18), Jesus “played dumb” and told her to go and call her husband (Joh 4:16). ii. Again, Jesus “played dumb” for a purpose: to demonstrate His omniscience to the woman and prove that He was the Messiah (Joh 4:17-19, 28-29). C. Jesus prior to feeding the 5000 i. Jesus asked Philip where they should go to buy bread to feed the multitude that had been following Him (Joh 6:5). ii. He did this to prove him, already knowing what He would do (Joh 6:6). iii. This can be an effective tactic when training children or employees to get them to think for themselves. 3. It’s not wrong to say something to one person when the message is really meant for another person who is hearing it. A. Jesus spoke to the Father so that the people around Him would hear and believe that He was sent by God (Joh 11:41-42). B. The Father spoke audibly to Jesus Christ for the sake of the people around Him who would hear Him (Joh 12:28-30). C. It’s therefore okay to say something to one person for the purpose of a bystander hearing it.