There are a couple of varieties of the slogan about showing Jesus to the world around us. All varieties say that words are secondary! It's the visible communication that matters. Christmas decorations communicate well. This year, there is so much less decoration in yards than I've seen before. I like the lights and the messages, and I'm not sure why there are so few this year. (I'm not too keen on the "deflatables" that lose air and fall over in the yard - - - not sure what THAT message is.)
Long ago, the Greeks decided what God was like by philosophy (strange and shaky ground for knowing God); the Hebrews decided what God was like by what He DID. They didn't have any philosophical framework for the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, but they were absolutely sure of the God who DID it. And the re-telling of the story of God's deeds, over and over, shaped a thousand years of confidence.
We communicate without words. In a study session in my doctoral program, the presenter was asked about his own training: where he did his doctorate, and what his language study was. Hugh Halverstadt (born in Africa to a missionary couple) said simply: "Not German or French, but Body Language". For a moment, that froze the group, as we were all very aware he could understand what we DIDN'T say.
Body language, the communication without words, says all the positive and negative things we feel. There are welcome signs, affirming signs, acceptance signs, calming and comforting signs. And there are the negatives. We all understand the rolling of the eyes and the looking down the nose, and the long sighs to negate something we've said. Every good salesman and persuader becomes very attentive to the signals.
I used to wonder how we could control that body language. Lots of it, almost all of it, just happens, as we show what's really in our hearts. And if we try to manipulate it, we find that's almost impossible to do, believably. If our hearts are pure and we do love Jesus, that colors everything we proclaim.
For this Christmas, proclaim Jesus, and if necessary, use words.
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