Thursday, June 25, 2009

The spiritual side of the Word of Mouth Media Relationship Ladder - Rung #2 Spiritual NOISE


You've seen it. The guy standing on the corner with a sandwich board stating that the end of the world is coming and to repent.

Spiritual NOISE is a little bit like that. Not to say that the Holy Spirit can't work on someone's heart and for the sandwich board to be the clincher to get someone to change their destructive behavior.

Rung #2, NOISE is just a slight step above Spiritual SPAM. It has a lot of the same characteristics.

  • Talking instead of listening
  • Quoting scriptures using archaic language (can you say Thee and Thou) versus a more relevant translation
  • Overly spiritual terms that turn people off (similar to the second point), such as "repent" versus more common terminology such as "change their destructive behavior"
Talking about someone you love, who has positively impacted your life should be natural conversation, not noise. If I want to talk about my best friend Chris, if you don't appear the least bit interested in hearing about what I love about her, and 10 minutes later I'm still talking about her, I've been really disrespectful of you and have devolved to "noise".

Think before you share. By all means share boldly and in response to nudging or an out and out push by Papa God, but remember to breathe once in a while and to listen for a response.

Getting a response is the next rung on the ladder. Stay tuned.

2 comments:

rebeccahappy said...

It is interesting to hear because after I read this I hear that it is also really important to always be listening.
To continue making noise in a place that is not interested is obviously an indication that we are not listening. Tying that into relationships whether they be for friends business or God it is still the same skill. Share,listen and keep it simple.

chickefitz said...

You are so right Rebecca! The keeping it simple part is sometimes the hardest. That is why I believe that Twitter has actually been good for us. We have to distill down our message to 140 characters and have it stand alone.