When I was an announcer on 96five my Program Director Malcolm Pollard used to drum into me all the time Research is King. What is your audience doing when listening to your show; what did they watch on TV last night; what did they do on the weekend; what sports do their kids play?
It was vital to me as an announcer to be able to connect with my audience. If I didn’t they would turn off. I didn’t need to live their life but I did need to have an understanding of what they did and why. Radio has taught me the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes and be able to ‘connect’ with them in their life.
I believe the same statement Research is King is important for ministers. Ministers need to know what their congregation is doing, watching, reading,. You might like reading the Financial Review or Weekend Australian but the majority of your ‘audience’ is probably reading the free weekly newspaper. You might watch 4 Corners but your ‘audience’ is watching Master Chef.
I am not saying that you need to live their lifestyle or lose your interests but you need to communicate in their lifestyle not yours.
As a coach of a sporting team I have learnt that to get the best out of my kids I need to understand how they think and why they react or respond to my directions. I don’t dress like them or act like them but I know their culture and connect with them on their communication style not mine as an adult.
We know as Christians and especially in church we speak a different language. We know what redemption means to us as Christians, talk to an unchurched person and redemption means getting even for a past wrong.
This week take some time out and hang around a shopping centre, sports field or even read the weekly free newspaper and get a true snapshot of your unchurched audience and see what are the issues in the lives of the ‘lost’.
Billy, I can understand where you are coming from but ministers need to be leaders, not followers.
ReplyDeleteResearch is not king. Character is king. Ministers do not have to 'hang around' shopping centres, sports fields or read Quest rags to connect with people. They need to hang around Jesus - pray, worship and read the word.That's why they're ministers.
People look to ministers for more than what they get from their WHO weekly, Kath & Kim, popular culture friends. Ministers should be looked up to - not desperate to aim for the lowest common denominator with their communication.
But let's talk research more generally. In all the years John Laws was a great broadcaster, he never once tried to sound like a bogan or dumb down his communication style. He was a silver tail with huge pay packets, a penchant for fine wine, fine food and fine cars. Yet, despite this, he related to western suburb, ordinary Australians in an extraordinary way. Truck drivers loved John Laws like no other before or since. Did he research? No. He was just himself. A great communicator who had the ability to take complex issues (as tackled by the Financial Review and the Australian) and relate them to his audience.
If you're a minsiter, don't give the audience masterchief if they've already had masterchief five times that week. Engage your audience, ignite parts of their brain which are ignored by the mainstream media.
Communicate your lifestyle. Talk about your family and holiness, integrity and God's goodness. People don't want to hear about their lives - they already know it intimately and all the problems that go with it.
Billy, you ask us to get a snapshot of the lost. So we start at malls, talking to people about drugs, sexual immorality, depravity. So the emphasis has switched from preaching the gospel to researching the sins of the world.
Good one Billy. You're just like the faceless men of the Labor party who think focus group research means more than what someone thinks and believes in their heart.
On a positive note, your program director was doing the right thing by getting you to ask questions. On the downside, it seems you have come up with all the wrong answers. Ministers/broadcasters should 'lift up' not 'drop down'.
Interesting thoughts there. I am a big fan of preaching Jesus not poular culture. I am also a fan of preaching about a saviour not a moral code too. I disagree on your observations on Lawsy though. He was king in Sydney not anywhere else in Australia and I think i'm right in saying that even in Sydney more 75% of people didn;t listen to him. You are right he didn't research because he had a team of researhers and producers doing his work for him.
ReplyDeleteCharacter is hugely importnat but we only find out about character when we have connected with someone. Their character then influences us if their is credabilty attached to character. Research remain king because it helps you understand your audience and why they think the way they do and then shapes how you communicate Jesus to them. Jesus himself hung out as much with the locals as he did with God. He was able to use the images, the politics of the day to make His point to the disciples and the crowds.