PERSUASION OVER PROPAGANDA

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REMEMBER! Beginning this Friday, January 1st, we will be going through the Book of Acts for 28 straight days. So, this Friday, we will begin the New Year with the 28 chapters of Acts in 28 days. Don't miss this opportunity to come along on this adventure!

There are two primary approaches to communication of any kind-persuasion and propaganda. Persuasion is moving people to action with proper reflection, so that the audience embraces it personally. Propaganda is moving people to action without proper reflection, just to get people to think, do and say whatever the propaganda calls for.

Propaganda is the basis for much of the political communication in our world today. Facts and fairness of information are not part of the process. Propaganda tweaks the facts to fit the premise being pushed. Propaganda speaks deductively, telling people what they want them to know. Thinking is not promoted within the propaganda process.

Persuasion is inductive and people-oriented. Persuasion grapples with the needs of the audience and walks them through a process of thinking the options through to find solutions.

In the 2nd chapter of the first letter to the Thessalonians there is a powerful illustration of how persuasion works. There are three appeals when the act of persuasion is in action-ethical appeal, emotional appeal and logical appeal. Ethical appeal answers the question: "Can I trust you?" Emotional appeal answers the question: "Do you care for me?" Logical appeal answers the question: "Do you know what you are talking about?" NOTE how these three questions are answered by Paul, Silas and Timothy with respect to their approach to the Thessalonians.

CAN I TRUST YOU? You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results. We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed-God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from any human being, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our prerogatives. Instead, we were like young children among you. This is the ethical appeal. Now they move on to describe their emotional appeal.

DO YOU CARE FOR ME? Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. This is the emotional appeal of compassion, then the logical.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT? And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

When they received the word of God, they accepted it not as a human word (just another religious experience or teaching), but as it actually is-THE WORD OF GOD-which is at work in you who believe. Because Paul, Silas and Timothy incorporated ethical and emotional appeals, those who heard from them fully accepted and welcomed the word of God as the real, authentic, and active word of God. Now, that's pure persuasion!

Persuasion's goal is to fully invest in another's life, appealing to them to examine Jesus and embrace that relationship uniquely and personally. Persuasion only wants to stick to the message with great credibility, compassion and common sense. Propaganda is mostly interested in controlling the thinking of others. Persuasion is inductive with a desire to get you to think for yourself. Propaganda is deductive with a desire to get you to think as they do. Persuasion assists you in developing the truth. Propaganda wants to dump the truth on you-their truth. Persuasion attracts. Propaganda promotes. Propaganda is short-term. Persuasion is long-term.

To practice persuasion over propaganda is to practice the communication style of Jesus. You see, persuasion is people-centered and propaganda is content-centered. So when you are into propaganda, you are most comfortable with a content-centered approach that sells others on your set of beliefs-your content. When you are into persuasion, you are totally into people and therefore a personal relationship with Jesus makes more sense. Religion tends to be mostly about doctrinal issues and a set of beliefs to buy into. Jesus is all about relationship. This is why we use the terminology that we use-JESUS PLUS NOTHING.

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR JESUS?

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OK, so Jesus says, "Where two or three gather together in His name, He will be in their midst", but is there any other indicator about seeing Jesus at work in your life? I think there are a few helpful guidelines in finding Jesus at work all around you.

FIRST-Jesus is focused on those in need, therefore look for Jesus as you are able to show concern for and offer help for the needy around you. This is where His heart is. He even says that when you feed, clothe and love those in need, you are actually ministering to Jesus, Himself.

SECOND-Jesus is focused on children, therefore look for Jesus to be hanging around them. Children do see things differently and say things innocently from the heart.

THIRD-Jesus doesn't make appointments; He will show up unexpectedly. If your day is interrupted, look for Jesus to show up in that interruption. Instead of being annoyed with your schedule being interrupted, look for Jesus there. In examining the life of Jesus you will see that He walked in and out of people's lives on His calendar.

Although there are a few times Jesus initiates encounters with people, most of the time people seek Him out personally or on behalf of loved ones. In either case, when Jesus encounters a person in need, His touch is always healing and life-giving. None of these encounters were on anyone's appointment book. Each was an interruption to their daily routine.

If you are met with irritations or troubles, look for Jesus to show up through these. I have found that some of the most irritating people I know have been used by the Lord to teach me something I really needed. Look for Jesus to show up in the midst of your troubles, too. It's not that Jesus causes us these irritations or troubles; He is always present to use them for our benefit.

You see, the reason why you can find Jesus around you throughout your day is that Jesus is relentlessly searching for children and child-like faith, those who are in need and those who are caught up with irritations and troubles. And He uses all of these players and situations to grow us up spiritually.

No matter what the touch of Jesus accomplishes in the life of a person, there is always the same result. Each and every person comes to the point of life-change-a turnaround in his life's direction. It is usually referring to turning back to God-getting back on track. I like to think about it as simply coming to your senses.

There is an interesting encounter with Jesus that Jesus actually initiates. It's when Jesus met a tax-collector by the name of Zaccheus. Zaccheus was so short that he climbed up into a tree in order to see Jesus better. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

NOTE that Jesus invites Himself to lunch at Zach's house. And even before they made it to his house for lunch, there is an immediate change in the heart of Zaccheus. It's amazing to me how quickly Zaccheus wants to rectify his wrongs against the people he had over-taxed. He repented. He came to his senses about what he was doing.

I see this all of the time with people. When they encounter Jesus, there is a dramatic coming to their senses about material things, about their family responsibilities, about their finances and about their sense of mission. This initial response to an encounter with Jesus indicates a genuine heart decision to follow Jesus.

Now note what Jesus' response was to the changes in Zaccheus. Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:1-10) When you're looking for Jesus everyday, you will find Him actively seeking those who have lost their way. What Jesus wants from you is to be aware of His activity, cooperate with Him in His many encounters with people around you and to do whatever you can do to advance the conversation of Jesus in the marketplace. You see, when you are looking for Jesus every day, you begin to partner with Him. To be a partner with Jesus is to participate in bringing people to their senses. By the way, your life will begin to make more sense, too.

So, seek for Jesus and you will find Him every day. He is setting up all kinds of random appointments every day. All He wants you to do is to show up!