Effective Church Communications

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and a Biblical Perspective to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. Our tools constantly change; our task doesn’t; we can help.

Do not confuse irreverence for relevancy—remember who you serve and reflect his character

We serve a holy God.

All our communications should reflect that truth. Doing that doesn’t mean our communications mouth meaningless, trite religious sayings, but that they have a purity and joy in them that would please our Lord. Jesus was able to be listened to and loved without compromise; he was able to confront evil and draw sinful people to himself without sinking to their level of despair.

I often wish I could have been there to see how he did it in a world as corrupt and vicious as our own. But though we don’t have his physical presence, we do have his Word and Effective Church Communications, our book, Devotions for Church Communicators, and other resources to help you get into God’s Word and to encourage godliness in this area.

Not only is this the right thing to do, but it is good strategy. No matter what we attempt, we will not succeed without the Lord’s favor and he does not use tarnished tools.

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Do not confuse irreverence for relevancy

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We serve a holy God
We serve a holy God and our words as church communicators must always reflect HIS character, not our bad attitudes cloaked as religious indignation.

From a book on Strategy, but advice that should always characterize us as church communicators:

We serve a holy God.

There is a tendency today for some in church communications circles to use shocking, profane, flippant language or advertising with the rationale of making the church appeal to the unchurched, or to make their communications appear edgy, professional, and contemporary.

This is wrong. Categorically, totally, completely, wrong.

As Jesus' ambassadors and representatives our words and lives are not to reflect the tone and words of our world, but to reflect his character and holiness.

The Bible is clear in what should characterize our communications:

"Live a life worthy of the calling you have received. . . .  Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. . . . . Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malic"(Eph. 4:1; 25-31).

"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man" (Col. 4: 6).

Graceful, worthy words, no corrupt communication, are just a few of the many, many worthwhile terms that should characterize our communications. As obvious as these passages seem, their message of holy, worthy words is not universally accepted in all circles of church communications today.

Some believe that it is OK, in the interests of sharing the messages of the church, to use language that shocks, offends, or frustrates. In addition to language that would have caused my mother to wash my mouth out with soap, some of this persuasion believe sexually suggestive images on billboards and sermon topics will get people to church—where of course then a proper biblical message will be preached.

This is an unbiblical and unworthy approach. [Read more...]

What should characterize our communications, God’s Word on our words

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God's word for church communicators
God's Word must be the inspiration, source, and guide for the words of church communicators.

If we want to reflect our holy God in all our communications, the Lord has given us very clear guidelines on how to do that. Below are collections of verses, both the positive words that should characterize our communications and then negative words that we should avoid.

Instead of listening to the often depressingly ugly discourse that fills much of the media today, take a break and spend some time to wash your mind with these verses today and God's Word always.

We want to be good citizens, we want to keep up on what is happening so we pray and participate in making a more just and godly world, but to do that in truth, we must constantly fill our hearts and minds with God's words—the only eternal voice that ultimately matters.

Verses on positive words, on what should characterize our communications

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
(Col. 4:6)

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.
(Prov. 10:11)

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
(Prov. 12: 18)

 The advice of the wise is like a life-giving fountain; those who accept it avoid the snares of death.
(Prov. 13: 14 NLT)

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
(Prov. 15: 1) [Read more...]

Peace should permeate our church communications

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Not how a church communicator should speak
The way a drill sergeant yells is not appropriate for a church communicator. I know this from personal experience—my father was a drill sergeant.

Today an ugly, vicious tone of public discourse has entered our world. Though each person is ultimately accountable to his or her Lord, I humbly believe from my study of scripture that there is no excuse for people who call themselves followers of Jesus to blast every foe or perceived political offense with slanderous, true or untrue, angry tirades. I do not see anywhere in the Bible were there are exceptions to these verses:

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay, ' says the Lord.  On the contrary: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.' "(Romans 12: 17-21).

"Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king" (1 Peter 2:16-17).

We were taught as children that we could disagree without being disagreeable. We would do well to remember that advice as adults.

An attitude of kindness in communications won't always be appreciated

When I tried, gently I hoped, to challenge someone who was making some rather strong, nasty statements about a church situation and those in authority, he responded angrily that Moses talked like that to people, so he had every right to do that.

"Maybe so," was my reply, "but you aren't Moses."

If we haven't been commissioned by God out of burning bush to deliver a message, we need to be careful that our tone does not exceed our authority. [Read more...]

Bait and switch is not a tool for church communication–two sad examples of it

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bait and switchThough bait and switch most often refers to the retail realm, it can also apply in many other areas as this definition from Wikipedia clarifies: "Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud, most commonly used in retail sales but also applicable to other contexts."

The Wikipedia article goes on to describe how bait and switch is used in many areas of contemporary life including the obvious teaser rates for the airline and travel industry, hotel and resort pictures that show non-existent levels of excellence, dating sites that post fake profiles, and methods of authoring legislation that hide the complete intent of a proposed bill.

This use of bait and switch, of a headline or link promising one thing, but not delivering what was expected, has become so pervasive in the media that many readers are no longer shocked or outraged, but meekly and quietly assume that you can't trust much of what you read or hear and if you get taken in by false of misleading claims, you, the reader, simply were not careful enough.

Caveat emptor, "Let the buyer beware," may be the rule for anything we read from the secular market place, but it should not need to be our response to communications from writers and organizations that claim Jesus as Lord. Sadly, this isn't always the case.

Remember who you represent

Christian communicators serve the Savior who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).

We are Christ's ambassadors, as 2 Cor. 5:20 says, "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God"

Let that sink in. As a Christian communicator, you speak for God. A core description of your communications should be that they are true.

To make that practical to you in your church communication work, following, I'll discuss:

  • How the reality that we are Christ's ambassadors applies in Christian communication
  • Some overall guidance on how we should communicate as ambassadors
  • Two examples of bait and switch in Christian communications
  • Application and advice on how not to be guilty of bait and switch  in your communications

[Read more...]