Now, truly gifted speakers are a rare breed and we should not undervalue their skills and abilities. Yet there is more to effective communication than technique, learned or otherwise, and so it was for the great orators we've mentioned. As much as anything, the impact they made came from the sincerity of their words, the fact that they spoke from the heart of things they deeply and passionately believed in. Without that their words may still have sounded impressive, assuming they could still have been spoken, but they would have lacked their cutting edge.
If this was true for them, it must have been all the more so for the Apostles in the days of the early Church. Suddenly, here they were, entrusted with taking the gospel out into the world. It must have seemed daunting enough sharing it in Jerusalem and Judea, let alone in Samaria and to the ends of the earth, yet this was the challenge they faced. Where could they even begin?
The answer, of course, was that alone they couldn't. They depended on the power of God's Spirit at work within them.
If anyone recognised that, it was Jesus. Consider those he called as Apostles. Were they scribes, Pharisees, the teachers of the law? No. Were they priests or rabbis, the religious specialists of his age? No. Instead, they were an unlikely ragbag, their ranks including a tax collector, freedom fighter, and fishermen. In other words, they were remarkably ordinary people who almost certainly hadn't the least experience of preaching or teaching between them, and I've no doubt their hearts must have sunk when Jesus suddenly sent them out into the mission field.
What could they possibly hope to achieve? What conceivable impact could they make? It must have seemed ridiculous. Yet to each one Jesus gave the assurance that the Holy Spirit would give them the words they needed, when they needed them: In Matthew's gospel we hear him say: 'When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you' (Matthew 10:19).
But in what way did that Spirit move?
Above all, surely, it was through the sincerity of their witness, the passionate enthusiasm of their words, the self-evident conviction oozing from every pore.
Nowhere do we see that more clearly than in the example of Peter and John as they preached the gospel in Jerusalem following the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. They knew the risks they were taking in speaking out, and soon found out how real these were as they found themselves hauled up before the chief priests and elders to explain how they dared to continue to speak of Jesus. Yet, despite the threats made against them, they simply could not keep quiet. The Book of Acts tells us: 'Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard'" (Acts 4:19-20).
Fair enough, you may say, but perhaps these represent the exception that proves the rule. After all, their success was nothing like that of the Apostle Paul, and if they weren't theologically trained, he was. Yet, true though that may be, Paul openly admitted to not being a patch on other speakers of his time, compared to whom, in terms of technique, he came a very poor second.
Furthermore, Paul clearly found the business of sharing his faith a frightening ordeal at times. As he wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, 'I came to you in weakness and in fear, and in much trembling' (1 Corinthians 2:3). Yet share he did, wherever and whenever he could, with astonishing success. In part, this was down to his willingness to talk the language of his listeners, but alongside that, I suspect, was his transparent sincerity. There was no artifice about Paul, none of what, in modern politics, we have come to refer to as 'spin'. He spoke of the way Jesus had changed his life, of the grace that constantly amazed him, of the love that moved him afresh each day, of the inner presence of the Holy Spirit that encouraged, nurtured, sustained and inspired him whatever he might face. Whatever Paul said or wrote, it came straight from the heart, and people responded accordingly.
When it comes to communication, the impact of sincerity cannot be emphasised too strongly. We may be the most polished speakers in the world, with everything off pat and delivered to perfection, but if we do not speak from the heart we can be utterly ineffectual, for something vital will be lacking from our words. On the other hand, we may be tongue-tied, our message confused and disjointed, yet nonetheless put across the wonder of the gospel in a way that is able to change lives!
Many of us fear that, if ever we attempt to share our faith, we will dry up part way through - that we won't be able to sustain the message we're trying to share. It's not that we haven't anything to say - quite the contrary - but we inwardly dread starting to speak and then finding the words just won't come, our minds going blank at the vital moment. Witnessing for Christ, we tell ourselves, needs specialist knowledge, natural talent or unique gifts. Much though we'd like to have a go, it's a job best left to evangelists, clergy and missionaries, those who have been equipped for the task and acquired the necessary skills. Are we right? Absolutely not! Certainly those who are trained in public speaking, theology and the like may have advantages in certain situations - that's why we send Andy to appear on TV and radio!, but that does not mean the experts alone are able to communicate the gospel effectively. Indeed, I have sat through enough dull sermons, and probably delivered a fair few of my own, to know that 'training' does not compensate for the lack of an authentic, life-giving message.
As Paul says, later in his letter to the Corinthians: 'My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God' (1 Corinthians 2:4).
We will not get far by standing on our soapbox and quoting the Bible at people, or by reciting parrot-fashion the creeds or central tenets of faith. We will get no further by engaging in complex theological debate in the wrong context, or attempting to argue people into faith when that faith is dry and impersonal. Nor will a carefully rehearsed testimony or learned technique pay dividends if it is simply trotted out with no reference to the situation or person we are speaking to.
What we need is to speak, in our own words, of what Jesus means to us; what difference our faith makes to our lives; and to do that honestly, naturally and spontaneously. Many of us will feel we are not up to the job, convinced that our nervous and awkward efforts will inevitably prove fruitless. Yet if we share our selves, simply and sincerely, telling of what Christ means to us, then however ineffectual we may consider our words to be, God is able to use them and to speak to others in ways surpassing our highest expectations!
So, the next time the opportunity presents itself to share our faith, let's not think too much about what we ought to say: let's just launch into what we want to say. The results are sometimes amazing!
Amen.
(Philip Jones)
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester. Click here for further information.