Last week we discussed a basic characteristic of high-impact people—they discern the times, the present situation, their audience, and their message is relevant to all three. To do this, we must also be good listeners, but as Jesus once warned, we must be careful “how we listen.”

      For example, one of my bestsellers was The Final Quest, and it continues to spike up the charts and occasionally. Recently it rose to number four again. I circulated the first chapters of this book in our newsletters and The MorningStar Journal, which I often do with my books. After these chapters had been circulated, a group of friends asked me to come to a meeting. They told me that I should not publish this book. They thought that it was too controversial, and they felt that it would ruin my ministry. I asked them if they felt the book was truth or not, and they all thought that it was truth, and important truth, but that the body of Christ could not handle a book like The Final Quest. I replied that I didn’t care if it ruined my ministry because I was not here to build a ministry, but to be a faithful steward of what I was entrusted with—that I knew I had been given this message for a reason, and I would not bury it. 

      I left that meeting thinking they were probably right and to distribute that message might be an end to my ministry, at least the growing type of ministry MorningStar had become. I honestly started thinking I might have to go back to flying planes for a living, or go back into business. I don’t think I could have lived with myself if I shelved that message that had come through such powerful experiences. Of course, the opposite was in fact the case as it propelled MorningStar to a much higher level of influence and effectiveness. Why am I bringing this up here?

      To be effective at what we are here for, we must always keep obeying God first. I don’t claim to have never been tempted to take the easy path or path of least resistance, and I may well have done it at times. However, whenever I want to do what is right regardless of the consequences and have resolved to do this, the consequences have actually been far better than I ever expected. As we have addressed a few points about knowing the times, the situation, and the audience in order to be more effective communicators, having a message be well received by many people is not necessarily an indicator of its effectiveness either. In John 6, Jesus gave a message that so thinned the crowd out that even many of His disciples departed from Him. However, it was a message that had to be given, and the number of people who received it was not a barometer of its value.

      I know some who claim to be prophets who feel that if they have not offended a large portion of their audience then they are not speaking the true message. That is foolish too, but prophesying and teaching can have different purposes. If they are the Lord’s message, they will fit the times and the situation. If we deliver the message as He desires, it will reach the right people in the right way. Because man’s ways are often so contrary to God’s ways, this often means that His message, delivered just the way He wants it delivered, can still result in more rejection than acceptance—it can even result in total rejection. The Lord is faithful to warn people even though He knows they will not listen because He is faithful even if we are unfaithful. 

      In our recent Oak Initiative meeting with about 150 attending, Lance Wallnau asked how many people would sign up for a two-day seminar on effective communications for $900 each and 60 people signed up right then. These were very wise people. A seminar like Lance’s will usually cost at least three times as much. The most successful people pay this or more every year because they know the dividends will be many times the cost. Communication is that important, and it can be the one factor to most radically impact your effectiveness in life. As I watched those who signed up, I knew many of them and they were already successful people. That’s why they signed up.

      My point is that if we think we have been given a treasure, we should be devoted to being the best vessel for it we possibly can. If you are a preacher or teacher, do whatever it takes to keep upgrading your skills of delivery. If you are a writer, keep doing whatever it takes to keep upgrading your skills. If we have this devotion and respect for the message or purpose, the Lord will see this and trust us with more.