Letter to Nickolay # 17

Dear Nicolay,

Greetings my dear brother. I trust you are well in the Lord's work in Ukraine.

Two weeks ago I visited a new church in Western Ukraine and I must admit that I was very frustrated by the messages which were spoken by the preachers. There was zero interaction and the young man I was with said nothing from the 40 minute message spoke to him at all. The preacher could just as well as speaking to the walls.

I am attaching an article that I wrote several years ago encouraging dialogue as a method - very Biblical- of communicating the truths of God's word.

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Forgive me for my frustration, but I see the congregations not being fed in a way that creates understanding or obedience.

Love In Christ,

Rich Correll

Monologue Speaking and Dialogue

First, allow me to say that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching (cause to learn), rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. II Timothy 3:16-17

Second, allow me to say that God has gifted men and women to be both proclaimers and teachers of the Word of God.

Third, allow me to say that the Word of God should be central to all gatherings of Christ followers.

With this said, there are several primary ways for the Word of God to be communicated – by monologue speaking and by dialogue. Monologue speaking is one person speaking and the rest listening. Dialogue is an active communication between two or more people with each having an opportunity to participate.

The purpose for this writing is to encourage more frequent use of dialogue in all gatherings of believers in Christ.

My reasons for this encouragement toward more dialogue:

In the gospel of Mathew, Jesus in the majority of cases used questions and dialogue as His means of communication. (See for yourself by counting His questions.)

Rabbinical teaching and training heavily used questions and dialogue as methods of learning

Discourse and dialogue are frequently found in the New Testament:

Acts 17:2

Acts 18:4

Acts 18:19

Acts 19:9

Acts 24:25

I Corinthians 14:26 encourages universal participation for mutual edification when believers come together.

Effective communication which results in changed behavior requires people to be able to question, discuss and accept the learning as their own.

While monologue speaking is clearly a Biblical method of declaring the Word of God, there are some limitations to monologue speaking:

There is a weakness of relationship between the speaker and the listener.

There is a lack of involvement and interaction with both the content and the speaker.

There is questionable transformation and obedience to monologue messages.

There is limited feedback from the listeners.

There is a weakness of community application – “what should we do now?”

There is a weakness of the entire body deeply digging into the Word versus being a fed people.

It fosters the clergy/laity divide prompting dependence on a prepared speaker.

It hinders the active headship of Christ.

It hinders the priesthood of all believers.

It hinders the mutual edification of the body by all of God’s gifted.

Lastly, in every aspect of the Christian life and experience, relationships are the most effective pathway for communication.

Evangelism is most effective via relationships.

Learning is most effective via relationships.

Becoming a disciple is most effective via relationships.

Transformation is most effective via relationships.

Relationships are the foundation of community.

My final encouragement is to use a method of communication which provides the maximum use of relationships – that is dialogue.

Editors Note:

This article is a part of series of letters between Rich Correll and his friend Nikolay, in which are discussed many principles related to simple churches. Rich Correll has been involved in Ukrainian church planting for 18 years. He has pioneered church planting and church planting training in cooperation with many Ukrainian churches. He is currently encouraging simple, organic, reproducing churches. Contact him at: richcpti@gmail.com

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