Communicating the Message
Trip to Yakima – A Reality Check
By Dene McGriff
I get so used to hearing myself talk, so precise in my arguments, so clear in my own thinking (at least so I think) that I often miss the mark. Then I go to Yakima! Yep, it’s in the middle of no where – called the Palm Springs of Washington out in the desert believe it or not! My folks moved up there almost forty years ago. Now my mom and sister and brother in law are there. They all really love the Lord – go to a small rural church 20 miles west of town called Wiley Heights (bet you can’t even find it on the map). My sister led me to the Lord a while back (say a half century ago). She is the most amazing person I ever knew – never saw a grade less than an A in her life. She can master languages, history, the computer, music – yes, even quilting! She knows the Bible better than most pastors and has memorized more Bible verses than anyone I know.
So we start talking about the election and I rattle on about how two faced I think the President is (says one thing, does another, etc., etc.) and then, after prattling on for a few minutes, I look up at her and say, “I bet you don’t agree with a thing I said, did you?” She gently says, “no” and I quickly change the subject. I forget how to talk to people who are coming from a different position than I have. I get so used to love fests with people who agree with everything I say… but in this case I wasn’t getting through. You may not believe this but when we were talking later I mentioned Paul Crouch and TBN and she says “Paul who? What’s TBN?” The fact is she doesn’t know “word/faith” from “Latter Rain” and doesn’t even care. She really doesn’t care for Bush or Kerry but she does believe in the Bible and good moral values. She hardly watches the news – just the weather and Jeopardy. Welcome to simple America!
After this I go to the Lord and repent and he tells me to stick to the basics – just His Word. What a novel thought! So I go back the next day and start by going back to the Bible.
· The Word says the church will fall away in the last days? Right? She agrees.
· The Word says that there will be a battle called Gog Magog and we know who the major players are, right? She agrees and comments on how close we are to that happening.
· The Word says there will be a defense treaty between Israel and the antichrist that starts the 70th week of Daniel, right? And there is a great nation talked about in the Word (especially Revelation 17, 18 and 19) that dominates the world culturally, militarily, economically, etc. that is a friend of Israel and could stand behind such a treaty. “Kind of seems like it could only be the United States, doesn’t it?” she said.
· We went on to talk about how the antichrist needed to look, act and seem Christian or it wouldn’t fool anyone, right? Yes, she agreed.
Finally she saw why I may be concerned about the prophetic momentum of the Bush Presidency. I learned a big lesson AGAIN. You can’t preach to people these days. Everyone does that. You can’t think for them. You have to lead them and let them think for themselves. No matter how enlightened we may think we are, we can’t enlighten another person just by talking. The Word of God and the Spirit of God have to speak to people and work in their heart. If we just tell them with our own wisdom and words, we will hit a brick wall of resistance. But if we present the case carefully from the Word and they see it themselves, God has accomplished something.
People don’t like to be told, talked down to or preached at. People like to be respected and given credit for being able to think for them selves. When they discover a truth for themselves, it will stay with them. If we try and “lay a truth” on them, their natural inclination is to resist, especially if it is not in agreement with what they have been taught. This is human nature. Thanks to my dear mother, sister, brother in law and Yakima for teaching me again a valuable lesson.