COMMUNICATING CHRIST EFFECTIVELY
Acts 17:16-34
INTRO.- ILL.- A stranger entered the church in the middle of the sermon and seated himself in the back pew. After a while he began to fidget. Leaning over to a white-haired man at his side, evidently an old member of the congregation, he whispered:
"How long has he been preaching?"
"Thirty or forty years, I think," the old man answered.
"I’ll stay then," decided the stranger, "He must be nearly done."
ILL.- After a preacher died and went to heaven, he noticed that a New York cabdriver had been given a higher place than he had. "I don’t understand," he complained to St. Peter. "I devoted my entire life to my congregation."
"Our policy is to reward results," explained St. Peter. "Now what happened , Reverend, whenever you gave a sermon?" The minister admitted that some in the congregation fell asleep. "Exactly, " said St. Peter. "And when people rode in this man’s taxi, they not only stayed awake, they prayed."
ILL.- One man said, "My young son asked what was the highest number I had ever counted to. I didn’t know but asked about his highest number. It was ‘5372.’ ‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Why did you stop there?’ ‘Church was over.’"
Brothers and sisters, there is no doubt that some preachers have it and some don’t, but all of us who speak for the Lord need to do the best that we can to communicate Christ effectively.
ILL.- An ad agent in New York city performed an interesting experiment one time. He dressed in ragged clothes, put on sunglasses, carried a tin cup, and wore a sign around his neck that read, "Blind." He spent the entire day in Central Park and collected $44.10. The next day he did the same thing under identical circumstances, only this time the sign around his neck read, "IT’S SPRING, AND I AM BLIND." That day he collected $161.65!
There’s a big difference between communication and effective communication.
ILL.- The famous preacher Dwight L. Moody held a revival meeting in Philadelphia starting on November 21, 1875, with nightly crowds of 12,000. His ushers were very well trained, capable of seating 1,000 people per minute. The doors were opened one and a half hours early and in 10 minutes the 12,000 seats were taken. On January 19, 1876 President Grant and some of his cabinet attended. Total attendance was 1,050,000 with 4,000 decisions for Christ.
Dwight L. Moody was, no doubt, an effective communicator! In our day and time, we have trouble getting people to come to church, let alone convincing them to decide for Christ.
The apostle Paul was also an effective communicator of the gospel of Christ.
Acts 17:16 "While Paul was waiting...in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols."
Athens was an intellectual center of its day. Here the philosophers, intellectuals, and students would gather to discuss the latest intellectual fads. Athens was also a pagan city. As many as 30,000 statues had been erected as idols to various gods in the city. It was here that Paul effectively communicated Christ to the people. He didn’t win everyone to Christ, but he certainly made an impact for Christ. AND THIS IS WHAT WE MUST DO! We must witness! We must make Christ’s presence known in this world! We must make an impact for Christ!
PROP.- From Acts 17 we want to consider four qualities that made Paul an effective communicator of the gospel. Qualities that we can learn from and use in our own lives to share Christ with others.
1- A genuine conviction
2- A broad knowledge
3- A profound simplicity
4- A realistic expectation
I. A GENUINE CONVICTION
Acts 17:6 says that Paul "was greatly distressed to see that city was full of idols."
ILL.- One Sunday Mrs. Calvin Coolidge was sick and couldn’t attend church. When the president returned home from church, she asked, "What did the minister preach about it?" The president replied, "Sin." She asked, "What did he say about it?" The president said, "HE WAS AGAINST IT."
The apostle Paul had a genuine conviction. He was against sin! He was greatly distressed that Athens was full of idols. Paul was convinced that idol worship was wrong. He wanted people to learn to worship the Creator rather than creation.
If anyone is going to be a good communicator he must have some genuine conviction about his faith or what he believes in.
ILL.- The purchasing department in a Kroger’s warehouse has sign that reads: "Salesman, before you try to sell your product to us, be so convinced of its superiority that when you’re finished, we will be more anxious to buy than you are to sell."
If you don’t believe in what you are selling, you won’t sell anything to anybody!
ILL.- David Hume, 18th century British philosopher who rejected historic Christianity, once met a friend hurrying along a London street and asked where he was going. The friend said he was going to hear George Whitfield preach. "But surely you don’t believe what Whitfield preaches do you?" "No, I don’t, but he does."
If a person doesn’t believe in what they are preaching or presenting, they won’t sell it to anybody.
ILL.- A guy came home from playing golf one day and his neighbor asked him about his game. He said, "I shot seventy." His neighbor said, "Hey! That’s pretty good!" The golfer replied, "Yeah, and tomorrow I’ll play the second hole."
Are you sold on playing golf? If so, I’ll bet you’re not afraid to share it with others. And the same thing holds true with almost everything we do in life. If we’re sold on it, we’ll sell it to others! WHAT ARE YOU SOLD ON? Are you sold on Christ and the church? Paul was.
Rom. 1:14-16 "I am obligated both to the Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes..."
Paul was man who had a genuine conviction that the gospel of Jesus Christ was the truth that everyone needed to hear! He believed that Christ could save people from their sins!
ILL.- I read about an ex-narcotics agent who started out as an undercover agent in Miami. He got so involved in the business that he began buying and selling drugs for his own profit. He was arrested for trafficking in drugs and was sent to prison. While in prison, he came under the influence of Charles Colson of Prison Fellowship and he became a Christian. Since he’s been released from prison he is working full-time with Prison Fellowship.
He was asked what could be done about the drug traffic in America. Here is what he said, "It won’t be stopped through legislation. It’s just too easy for two small boats to meet in the ocean a few miles offshore and exchange cargo, or for a private plane loaded with drugs to land on a secluded airstrip. We can’t stop it. Our only hope is Jesus Christ. Our only hope is that we can win so many people to Christ that drugs will not be needed any more."
There is a man with a genuine conviction about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only lasting answer to all problems that we face in this life! DO YOU BELIEVE IT? We must have a genuine conviction in order to convince others.
II. A BROAD KNOWLEDGE
Acts 17:18 "A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, ‘What is this babbler trying to say?’ Others remarked, ‘He seems to be advocating foreign gods.’ They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection."
Paul had a broad knowledge which enabled him to speak to all kinds of people, intellectuals, philosophers, etc.
ILL.- An alumnus of Yale was asked to return and give a speech. He said, "I’m going to speak on four simple letter: Y-A-L-E." He spoke for about thirty minutes on youth. Then, thirty minutes on ambition. Another thirty minutes on loyalty and finally, thirty minutes on energy.
One student asked another student how he liked the lecture. He said, "It was okay, but I’m sure glad he wasn’t speaking at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology." Wow! That would be a long speech, wouldn’t it?
It’s all right to know something, but it shouldn’t take all day to let it be known. Paul’s message was not long, but pertinent.
We need a broad knowledge of life and what is going on in the world if we are ever going to effectively communicate with people and reach them for Christ.
ILL.- Some years ago Newsweek magazine had an article entitled, "No Allusions in the Classroom." It told about one schoolteacher who quizzed his students about general knowledge. Here is what his students said:
- Charles Darwin invented gravity. No God invented it, but Sir Isaac Newton discovered it.
- J. Edgar Hoover was a 19th century president. No, he was the director of the FBI from 1924 to 1972, 48 years.
- Sid Caesar was an early Roman emperor. No, Julius Caesar was. Sid Caesar is an actor and comedian.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower was an American president in the 17th century. No, he was our 34th president from 1953 to 1961.
- Socrates was an American Indian chief. No, he was a Greek philosopher.
Brothers and sisters, ignorance is not bliss! And spiritual ignorance is certainly not bliss. Most people know quite a lot about the things of this world, but Biblical ignorance abounds!
I Cor. 15:34 "Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame." It is a shameful thing to be ignorant of God.
ILL.- My brother-in-law, Mike Hughlett is an aerospace engineer in the field of jet propulsion and fuel analysis. He was recently hired by Lockheed in Ft. Worth, TX. There is no doubt about it, Mike knows his stuff when it comes to jet propulsion, etc. BUT THAT’S ALL HE KNOWS ABOUT! Wrong!
I have discovered that you can talk to Mike about all any subject you want and he can converse quite well about it. He has a vast knowledge of many subjects and there is a very good reason for it. HE IS A READER! He reads newspapers, magazines, books, and the Bible!
DOES THIS TELL YOU ANYTHING? If you don’t read, you won’t know. TV won’t cut it. It’s an educational tool, but not the best. And besides, most people don’t watch TV to get an education, but rather to be entertained.
Brothers and sisters, if we are going to reach some people for Christ we must have a broad knowledge about life and what is happening in the world. We need to be able to converse with people.
I Cor. 9:19 "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible."
Paul wanted to know about many things in order to be able to converse with as many people as possible. Because if you don’t converse, you don’t convert. If you don’t communicate you can’t activate. That is, you can’t activate or stimulate people to know Christ!
Acts 17:22 "Paul stood up in the meeting of the Aeropagus and said, ‘Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious...’"
Paul knew his stuff. He was well-educated and also knew his audience. He knew people. If we are going to effectively communicate Christ today we must know about people. There are two basic facts that we should know about people.
1- People do not respond well to the authoritarian approach.
ILL.- I was sitting in the barber’s chair one day getting my hair cut when a man came in and began to visit with the men who were waiting their turn. He was trying to witness to them about Christ and the church of Christ. The only problem was, he came on real strong and began to tell them why other churches were wrong. DID HE EVER BLOW IT! After he left that barber shop the men talked about him and they were not impressed. THEY WERE TURNED OFF!
Brothers and sisters, we can’t approach witnessing that way. The attitude that I’m the teacher and you’re the student and you’d better listen to me. The attitude that I’m right and you’re wrong. Or the attitude that I know it all and you know very little.
And that attitude will turn people off quicker than almost anything else we can do.
2- A second basic fact about people is that they have a short attention span.
ILL.- Dr. Warren Walker recalls a sermon that he preached in central Florida one time. He got carried away and was running longer than usual. While he paused to catch his breath, he overheard two men in the front pew. One asked, "Is he through?" The other said, "Yeah, he’s through, but he ain’t quit!"
A long time ago preachers could preach for two hours and people accepted it gladly, but not anymore! Fifteen or twenty minutes is more like it today! Even in person-to-person witnessing we’d better not plan on preaching a sermon to someone. Often, we may only be able to drop a word or two that might point them to Christ.
Anyway you cut it, Paul knew what he was talking about. He was educated about people and more importantly, he was educated about Christ. And we need both to be effective communicators of the gospel.
III. A PROFOUND SIMPLICITY
Acts 17:22 "Paul then stood up in the meeting of Areopagus and said: ‘Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious."
Paul’s sermon or speech was very logical and easy to follow. One of the mistakes that some preachers make is when they preach a message that is hard to understand or hard to follow.
ILL.- A farmer had a wife who was very critical of his grammar. One evening he told her he had a friend named Bill and he wanted her to meet him. "Don’t call him Bill," she insisted. "Call him William."
When the friend arrived, the farmer said, "Let me tell you a tale." His wife interrupted and said, "Don’t say tale, say, ‘anecdote.’"
That night, when going to bed, the farmer told her to put out the light. His wife exclaimed, "Don’t say ‘put out the light,’ say, ‘extinguish’ the light."
Later in the night she woke her husband and sent him downstairs to investigate a noise. When he returned, she asked him what it was.
"It was," he explained carefully, "a William goat which I took by its anecdote and extinguished it."
In other words (in simple language) he said, "it was a Billy goat that I took by its tail and put outside."
Brothers and sisters, some preaching is hard to understand.
ILL.- One time a deacon in a Missouri church and I went to an area men’s fellowship. After the preaching and meeting was over, we walked out and the deacon said, "That had to be good stuff because I didn’t understand it all!"
HOW COULD IT BE GOOD STUFF IF YOU CAN’T UNDERSTAND IT? It can’t.
ILL.- I read that King James I became annoyed with the irrelevant ramblings of his court preacher and shouted up to the pulpit: "Either make sense or come down out of that pulpit!" Good advice.
If we who preach and teach don’t use the language that people can understand then how do we expect to win anybody to Christ?!
ILL.- The fame and popularity of Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen rested largely on his children’s fairy tales, written over a period of some 37 years and translated into scores of languages. Andersen was well aware of this fact -- so much so that late in life, he told the musician who was to compose a march for his funeral, "Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with little steps."
WE WHO SERVE CHRIST MUST KEEP BEAT WITH THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LISTENING TO US AND WATCHING US!
Paul knew his audience and knew how to speak to them. He used a positive approach. He said, "Men of Athens! I see that you are very religious." He didn’t say, "What a bunch of ignorant heathens you are." That would have turned them off immediately.
Paul presented six simple points:
1- God is the creator of the universe
2- He is the ruler of the nations
3- He is the sustainer of life
4- He is the Father of us all
5- He wants to be our Savior
6- He will someday judge the world
You can’t get much plainer than that.
If people can’t follow what we’re saying in the pulpit and out of the pulpit, how can we expect them to choose Christ and to follow Christ?
In our witnessing or presenting of the gospel, let us think before we speak. And let us speak clearly, plainly and simply. That’s the way to effectively communicate Christ to others.
IV. A REALISTIC EXPECTATION
Acts 17:32 "When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, ‘We want to hear you again on this subject.’"
Paul also had a realistic expectation of how the people would respond. He probably knew his audience well enough to know that he was not going to get a fantastic response to his message.
ILL.- Someone wrote about how to get rid of a preacher.
1. Look the pastor straight in the eye while he’s preaching and say "Amen" once in a while and he’ll preach himself to death.
2. Pat him on the back and brag on is good points and he’ll probably work himself to death.
3. Rededicate your life to Christ and ask the preacher for some job to do, preferably some lost person you could win to Christ, and he’ll die of heart failure.
4. Get the church to unite in prayer for the preacher and he’ll soon become so effective that some larger church will take him off your hands.
The people of Athens probably wanted to get rid of Paul too, but that’s not how they did it. They sneered at him. If people sneered at me, I don’t think I’d hang around very long.
ILL.- We had an old elder in the church of Anna, IL, who told me that the first three years of a preacher’s ministry went like this: First year, admiration. Second year, toleration. Third year, abomination.
Most of the people of Athens were in their third year after Paul’s first sermon! They wanted him gone. They sneered at him.
There will be times in this unbelieving world that some people will sneer at you when you testify for Christ.
ILL.- One time Billy Graham was invited to one of those talk shows. The host asked him in front of his worldly audience, "Were you a virgin when you got married?" Billy Graham responded, "Yes, I was." As soon as he said that the audience snickered at him. Some whistled and hooted. But Billy Graham kept his composure.
We must realize that not everyone is going to respond in a positive way to our witness for Christ. Most will, but some won’t.
Most will respond in a positive way, because the gospel is good news! It is the best news mankind has ever heard. But others will respond in a negative or nasty manner and we have to be able to take it. We must take our stand and take it.
I Cor. 15:58 "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
Much of what we do in life is in vain, but not our service for Christ!
I Cor. 16:13-14 "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love."
Not everyone is going to respond nicely when we present Christ, but we must continue to respond to them in faith and love.
CONCLUSION---------------------------------------
ILL.- Broadway producer Jed Harris once became convinced he was losing his hearing. He visited a specialist, who pulled out a gold watch and asked "Can you hear this ticking?" "Of course," Harris replied. The specialist walked to the door and asked the question again. Harris concentrated and said, "Yes, I can hear it clearly."
Then the doctor walked into the next room and repeated the question a third time. A third time Harris said he could hear the ticking. "Mr. Harris," the doctor concluded, "there is nothing wrong with your hearing. You just don’t listen."
Brothers and sisters, the people of the world don’t have a hearing problem, they have a listening problem. They are not listening to the good news about Christ. Somehow we must turn the tide. We must communicate Christ more effectively so they will hear and respond and be saved. Let’s band together. Let’s do our best. Let’s reach people for Christ.
