LITURGICAL OPENING — PSALM 34:1-8
• I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
• My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
• O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
• I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
• They looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
• This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
• The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
• O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
(Psalm 34:1-8)
GREETING
Good Morning ... and too, God be the Glory!
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
And there is a Word from the LORD ...
So let us turn our hearts and our Bibles to the Gospel of Luke ... chapter 9, beginning at verse 57 ... and then to the Gospel of John ... chapter 15, beginning at verse 12.
SCRIPTURE READING — LUKE 9:57-62; JOHN 15:12-17 (KJV)
(Luke 9:57) And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
(9:58) And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
(9:59) And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
(9:60) Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
(9:61) And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
(9:62) And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
(John 15:12) This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
(15:13) Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
(15:14) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
(15:15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
(15:16) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.
(15:17) These things I command you, that ye love one another.
NEIGHBOR TURN
Turn to your neighbor and say ... Neighbor — SMALL c COMMUNICATION IS KILLING THE CHURCH.
You may be seated ...
PRAYER
Father ... the task of teaching Your Word is once again in my keeping. I commit myself to do the very best that I can. Clear my mind of distractions. Warm my heart with compassion. Fill my soul with faith in Your goodness and power. Speak to me ... that I may speak for You. Speak through me ... that I may speak to those who wait to hear Your unadulterated gospel. Right now, Lord ... remove self. Remove pride. Increase in me and I decrease in You. Hide me behind Your cross. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight. My Lord ... You are my strength and my Redeemer. This is my prayer. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
Last week we talked about the culture in the middle. This week we go deeper into the first pillar of C3PT ... COMMUNICATION.
There are two kinds of communication. Capital C Communication is what God modeled in John 1:1 — "In the beginning was the Word." God communicated clearly, intentionally, and with life-giving power.
But small c communication is what shows up in the hallways after the meeting is over. It is the whisper before the prayer is finished. It is the text message that says "don't say I told you but ..." It is the rumor dressed up in prayer language. It is the silence that speaks louder than any word ever could.
SMALL c COMMUNICATION IS KILLING THE CULTURE OF YOUR CHURCH. (Repeat)
Point 1 — The Cost of Incomplete Communication
Point 2 — The Contrast Between Gossip and Love
Point 3 — The Call to Capital C Communication
POINT 1 — THE COST OF INCOMPLETE COMMUNICATION
Luke 9:57-62 — "Lord, I will follow thee... but let me first..."
Three men encounter Jesus on the road. Three men have a conversation with the Son of God. And three men walk away from the greatest opportunity of their lives. Why? Because they did not communicate completely.
The first man said "Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest." That sounds committed. But Jesus heard what the man did not say. He responded to the assumption ... not the words.
The Greek word for "follow" here is AKOLOUTHEO — ah-kol-oo-theh-o. It means to follow as a disciple ... to walk the same road ... to go where the leader goes regardless of where that road leads.
(Greek: akoloutheo — ah-kol-oo-theh-o — to follow as a disciple, to accompany, to conform to the way of another)
Then the second and third men both say the same thing: "Lord, I will follow you ... BUT LET ME FIRST ..."
"But let me first." Four words that have derailed more ministries, more board relationships, more church cultures than almost anything else I can name.
Dr. Henry Cloud writes in "Boundaries": "We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing."
(Dr. Henry Cloud, "Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life," Zondervan, 1992)
The culture breaks when unclear communication becomes a pattern.
POINT 2 — THE CONTRAST BETWEEN GOSSIP AND LOVE
John 15:12-15 — "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you..."
The Hebrew word for gossip is RAKIL — raw-keel — a scandal-monger, someone who goes about carrying tales. The book of Proverbs mentions it six times. God specifically addresses the person who makes it their business to carry information from one person to another.
(Hebrew: rakil — raw-keel — a scandal-monger, tale-bearer; from Proverbs 11:13, 18:8, 20:19, 26:20, 26:22)
Gossip is not just a moral failure. It is a communication failure. It is a leadership failure. It is a culture failure.
In 1914, the British War Office issued a message: "Send reinforcements, we are going to advance." By the time it passed through six people orally, it arrived as: "Send three and fourpence, we are going to a dance."
(Classic military communication example, widely cited in organizational communication literature)
That is funny as a trivia story. It is not funny when it is your board meeting. Because in the church ... when a message passes through six people unclearly ... somebody ends up hurt. Somebody ends up leaving.
But Jesus shows us the antidote. Verse 15 — "I call you not servants ... I have called you FRIENDS. For all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."
Jesus said: I am not going to hold information back. I am going to tell you EVERYTHING. THAT is capital C Communication. Complete. Clear. Sacrificial. Love-driven.
POINT 3 — THE CALL TO CAPITAL C COMMUNICATION
John 15:16-17 — "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you... love one another."
The Greek word for "ordained" here is TITHEMI — tith-ay-mee — to place, to set, to appoint to a specific purpose.
(Greek: tithemi — tith-ay-mee — to place, to appoint, to set in a specific position for a specific purpose)
God placed you in your church. You were not an accident. You were TITHEMI — set there for a specific purpose. And part of that purpose is to carry the communication of the Kingdom with integrity.
And then verse 17 — the command: "These things I command you, that ye love one another."
The Greek word is ENTELLOMAI — en-tel-lom-ahee — a direct command with the full authority of the one giving it.
(Greek: entellomai — en-tel-lom-ahee — to give a direct command with full authority and expectation of compliance)
Dr. Stephen Covey writes: "The biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand. We listen to reply."
(Dr. Stephen R. Covey, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," Simon & Schuster, 1989)
Capital C Communication is not a skill set. It is a spiritual discipline. And it grows out of the same root as everything else in the Kingdom ... LOVE.
THE CLOSE
Somebody in this room has been on the receiving end of small c communication. Somebody has been the subject of a rumor in a church that was supposed to be a safe place. Somebody has been hurt ... not by the world ... but by the people who were supposed to love them in the name of Jesus.
What happened to you was wrong. And the reason it spread is because somewhere in the middle ... somebody was not formed. Somebody was still on milk. Somebody had a character problem that produced a communication problem.
But I also came to say this ...
You cannot heal a broken culture by holding onto what was done to you.
Because Jesus did not say love the ones who love you back. He said: love one another AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.
And how did He love you? He laid down His life for you. Before you deserved it. Before you asked for it.
THAT is capital C Communication. It costs you something. It requires you to pick up the phone instead of sending the passive-aggressive text. It requires you to walk across the room and have the conversation you have been avoiding for three months.
STOP TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE.
START TALKING TO THEM.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
AS HE LOVED YOU. (Repeat)
ALTAR CALL
Every head bowed ... every eye closed ...
The Bible says in Romans 10:9-10:
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Come down this aisle ... give me your hand ... and give God your heart.
BENEDICTION
This week I want you to go and have the conversation you have been avoiding. Not a text. Not an email. A conversation. Face to face. With love. With honesty. With the intent to understand and not just to be heard.
That is capital C Communication. And it will change your culture.
Now may the God of peace make you perfect in every good work to do His will ... working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
— Rev. Kelvin L. Parks, M.A. | C3PT Kingdom Culture Ministries | c3ptexecutivesolutions.com
