What is communication

I am currently at our annual junior high camp. I have had the opportunity to be one of the session speakers. This is an amazing opportunity for a variety of reasons. First our student community team is incredible talented. I am truly humbled to serve with them. This week we all brought our A game. It has been really fun to be a part of. Not only did we all prepare and practice thoroughly, I really got the sense from each and every one who spoke or led worship that we all spent the most time praying over the week and asking God to move through us and in the lives of students. A lot of times at a conference or event it takes a while to build up the intensity and for students to engage but it seemed like from the word go the students were really being impacted. We saw about a dozen students make first time commitments to a relationship with Jesus. Dozens more expressed or publicly declared decisions that they had previously made. I think everyone is walking away with a renewed sense of God moving in their lives. And the week isn't even over yet - we have one more session to go tonight. It has been absolutely amazing.

What struck me as I prepared and then delivered my messages and I listened to my fellow communicators was how much time and energy I put into communicating in a large group setting. I will be honest I am one of those weird people that is not nervous speaking in front of large groups. I am not sure why as many other things terrify me but not that. Sure I get nervous that I will say something stupid or inappropriate (and I often do) or that I will just forget some key part of a message. But in the end getting up in front of large crowds is actually fun for me. I enjoy it. I realized though that communication is something that occurs almost constantly. Those large group moments get a lot of focus and attention but I think I forget or underestimate how much communication I do in every other moment. I even communicate when I don't communicate. I came to a painful and uncomfortable realization with someone this week that my lack of communication to them about something had in turn communicated something to them that I never intended which is apathy. I wonder if for someone like myself who prides themselves on being a good communicator in front of crowds it is more difficult to communicate one on one. Maybe it's just me. Marriage has been an arena where I often get frustrated about communication. It never seems like I do the right kind, at the right time or in the right way. This is in no way a dig to my wife. She is an amazingly patient woman. I often tell her that I don't intentionally not communicate with her I just assume she knows everything I know. Like if it has gone through my brain it must have passed through hers as well. But that is another example of communication that occurs unintentionally. When I leave her out of key details or even mundane experiences it communicates something to her I never intend.

I don't really have any random brilliance on how to solve this problem other than just for me I think I need to remember that all the prayer, preparation and effort I put into public speaking I also need to invest in my more personal forms of communications. For me at times it is less intimidating to speak to a large group than it is a single person. Just as we are challenging the students this week in boldness I too need to be challenged to boldly go beyond my comfort zone and learn the true art of communication in every thing I do. I think Jesus was probable a very gifted public speaker. Speaking with absolute authority as the Son of God definitely gives you an edge but even beyond that he drew large crowds whenever He spoke. He must have had good jokes! But as I look at His life He spent enormous amounts of time one and one with people communicating with them and what He communicated was love and how much He valued them. I think that what made Him so engaging was He wasn't just preaching, He communicated love and respect. I suspect in that area I have a great deal to learn about being a communicator.