Connecting the Dots

My printer has a problem. Or maybe it’s my computer. It somehow disconnects itself, so that when I want to print, the computer tells me the printer isn’t connected. After making sure all cables are in place, I disconnect the USB cable and reconnect it.

Violá!

It gets the information and the printer prints.

I’m sure an IT person could tell me what the problem is and get it fixed so that communication flows. After all, they are masters at understanding how this stuff works. But…it seems I am just too busy to do that. So I just keep unplugging and plugging in the printer cable to make it work.

I wonder if we do something like that in our attempt to communicate biblical truth. We have carefully put together what we want people to receive. We key the mic or feed the signal out, but somehow there is a disconnect. We can check the wires, the transmitter, the internet, and not find anything wrong.

To quote William Shakespear…

[blockquote author=”” link=”” target=”_blank”]The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves…[/blockquote]

Are we relating to our audience in a way they can understand? Are we doing the little things that help us connect the dots between us and our listeners…so the information can flow?

If I were to talk of the cobblestone streets of Korçë , Albania, those living there would more likely listen. If I mentioned the gravel walkways in the gardens of the Schönbrunn Palace, the people of Vienna would feel I knew what their city was like. Little things, to be sure, but once dots are connected and links are made, then it is more likely that important information can flow.

I’ve mentioned before a disc jockey in Dallas named Ron Chapman. For 40+ years he was at the top of his game, the most popular person on radio in this fifth-largest metropolitan area in the US. If there was one important thing that he did, it was to connect with the listener. You felt he knew what the street you lived on looked like. And as a result of that connection, you listened. And kept listening.

Connecting.

Jesus did it. You remember His amazing encounter with the Samaritan woman. He connected with her from the start by talking about what was on her mind. Water. Then he was able to share the important things. Her need for a savior. And it worked. In John 4:29 we see her astonished comments about her conversation with Jesus.

“Come and see a man who told me everything I

ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”

How can you connect the dots? How can you build a strong conduit for passing on to others the only hope we have in this world…Jesus?