Gaining Receptiveness to Hear a Law and Gospel Message

It’s impossible for a soul lost in sin to receive faith without hearing a law and gospel message. The challenge is providing this message to a receptive audience.

Many secular articles and studies are being published right now on the subject of conversational receptiveness. The motivation behind these studies is an attempt to change our political discourse.

One recent study caught my attention. Researchers analyzed and coded thousands of conversations on divisive political issues and came up with four “linguistic markers” that enabled a person to gain a willingness to dive into a difficult topic.

Talking about Jesus Christ is a difficult topic. Applying what the researchers discovered, there may be four ways an evangelist could be “trusting and persuasive” when they begin to tell others about what Christ has done.

Utilizing findings from a team of researchers who specialize in organizational behavior (See link to article “Conversational Receptiveness”), here are four ways a person can sound less like an “out-of-touch religious zealot from an institutional church” and more from a sincere heart that cares about a person’s spiritual welfare.

Acknowledging Other’s Perspective
We can say, “I see your point” and repeat their view to show that you are listening without agreeing with them.

Highlighting Areas of Agreement
We can say, “We can both agree that this point is very important.”

Hedging Claims
This means using words to soften claims. We can say, “Perhaps you can see Easter in a new light when Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Positive Framing
This means communicating what you want versus what you don’t want. We can say, “We should consider the benefits of what Christ has done for us on the cross,” rather than “We shouldn’t ignore all that Christ has done for us on the cross.”

Bottom line: People really don’t know the true message of Easter yet have an acute interest in spiritual matters. Gaining is audience is attainable, despite a perceived disinterest.