Salt That Watermelon

I love watermelon. In fact, it’s my favorite fruit, especially in the summer. And I’m from a small town in Kentucky, so one thing we did a lot was sprinkle a little bit of salt on the watermelon. Then taking that first bite is like BAM!! A party in your mouth. Flavors of watermelon you didn’t know existed prior that moment suddenly rush your senses, anchoring that moment to your long term memory for the rest of your life. Putting it plainly, salt on watermelon is a game changer.

"5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be gracious so that you will have the right response for everyone."

Colossians 4:5-6

A different translation says “Let your conversation be seasoned with salt.” I love that. Because it gives me the perfect mental picture of what it means to always be prepared to give an account of how Jesus has changed our lives. And in regard to a church setting, constantly reflecting on how we can better reach the un-churched for God’s Kingdom. Why? Because most non-Christians don’t read the Bible. But they do read Christians. Let me say it again for the people in the back.

Non-Christians don’t read the Bible. But they do read Christians.

They are reading you like a book, every day. Even if they don’t realize it. Even when YOU don’t realize it.

Why is that important to know?

Our company, D373, talks to churches all the time, all over the country on how to better communicate their message and brand. And most times, it comes down to shifting the WAY we communicate, rather than WHAT we communicate.

My pastor recently discussed something in a message that I think brings home this point of understanding the power of our words, language and context to people outside of church circles.

In communication world, or even in the scholar world, we talk about the difference between High Communication and Low Communication. We see this at play in all areas of our life, honestly. Just think about the last two years. A group of people can hear a singular message and interpret it one way, and another group of people can hear the exact same words and hear something completely different all together.

Low-Context or LOW Communication is explicit, with little left to imagine. The person you’re talking to is likely to understand all of the information even if they are unfamiliar with the cultural context. High-Context or HIGH Communication, on the other hand, has a massive amount of information that is implied rather than specific or explicit. An understanding of the cultural context is incredibly necessary to understand the message being sent.

That was my nerd out moment. Here is why that’s important. Many times, as the church, when we are trying to communicate (especially and in particularly via social media) to the people we are trying to reach, we tend to gravitate towards HIGH Communication. It’s what we know. If you’ve grown up in church especially. That’s why shifting our language to a LOW Communication format is so important. Taking away the “Christianese” without compromising. And while some of you reading this will immediately think that you can’t do that because you would be compromising your faith or watering down the gospel, let me assure you, it IS possible.

Let me give you a better example.

Arguably, this is the greatest team of all time. The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Kerr…the whole team, superstars. Inside this huddle, they are talking plays, the “you need to go here and do this” stuff. The “post up here when this happens” sort of things. In fact, they had it down to a science. I mean, to their credit, they had been living it the whole season, working on what makes them great all year long. They more than likely got to the point where they knew what each were thinking just by simple hand gestures or one word.

You see, what is going on inside this huddle is HIGH communication. You and me, if we were to step into this huddle, no matter how much we think we know about basketball we would not know what is going on, or what they’re referring to for the most part. Why? Because we would be entering from a LOW Communication vantage point. It’s not bad, it’s just the way it is.

So, on social media for a church, if we are using words and phrases like “Washed in the blood”, “Hedge of protection”, “Come and greet them and offer the right hand of Christian fellowship”, “We’ve been sanctified and redeemed by the blood of the lamb”, is speaking in a HIGH Communication format to a LOW Communication audience. Don’t hear me say that these phrases are inherently bad. They aren’t. Even now, you probably know what all of those mean because we are communicating in High Context Communication, knowing the cultures, backstories, and scripture that make up those phrases.

But someone not yet in your church. Someone not yet a follower of Jesus, with no context. They may walk away more confused than convinced.

So salt that watermelon so that when people read the words from your church on any communication platform, they want more.

Words matter. Language matters. Context matters.