Speak to Teach
Last week I attended my church conference not as a representative of my local church, but instead as a representative of our district which is composed of approximately 85 churches. In this role, I was asked to speak briefly to all of the laity (non-clergy) in attendance. What made my talk different than the other three given during that session was that instead of being inspirational, it was a mini-class.
This happened primarily because I was given minimal notice and when in doubt, I revert to “teacher” mode. After years of practice, if I possess the minimal amount of knowledge required, I can probably do a reasonable job of teaching the subject. And so when choosing to speak on a topic, I almost always choose an instructional message versus an inspirational message – even when speaking at church. But there is power in this approach.
