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Communication Theory for Christian Witness

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I recently completed a reading critique of Charles H. Kraft's Communication Theory for Christian Witness. Here are a few of my observations:

1. The author's main purpose is his belief that the Bible presents systems to be directed by and an example to emulate. Jesus said, "As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you" (John 20:21, ESV). By drawing from the Scriptures, one might expand his knowledge of various situations, perceive how God has utilized these principles, and grow overall in the discipline of successful communication (Kraft, viii).

2. The author's instruction about guiding an audience was helpful (Kraft, 143). One's responsibility is to carefully select his recipients. Jesus was intentional with who, where, and when he was with people. He chose a mountain to renew the Law and the Sabbath to heal the sick. He functioned within their general context. An effective communicator maximizes different mediums (Kraft, 148). He also purposefully chose the language, sayings, and methods that best connected with his audience. Christ strived to achieve, preserve, and utilize his integrity and influence (Kraft, 149).

Another item of instruction that was appreciated was the focus on one's "frame of reference" (Kraft, 16). Recipients are expected to conform to norms, terms, and environment before being accepted. This motive has less to do with holiness as with protecting one's power base. Judaizers made the mistake of expecting gentiles to follow rituals instead of focusing upon grace. They expected converts to change outward actions while they themselves had not changed inwardly. Jesus chose instead to take "the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:7, ESV). He was reliant and transparent in sharing humanity's necessities, difficulties, and meanings (Kraft, 16).

3. The most helpful part of the book was the author's instruction concerning the natural connotations of the gospel's essence (Kraft, 40). God entered into the world of humanity with the intent of transforming it. His life, death, and resurrection were incredibly relational in nature. The gospel can never be reduced to mere words and concepts but rather to always be centered on the language and lifestyle of Christ. Recipients should be challenged in their beliefs to the point where their behavior changes as well (Kraft, 42). The goal is to redirect them on their spiritual journey.

4. The quotation that seemed particularly important was, "What we seek is the kind of Christianity that is equivalent in its dynamics in today's society to the Christianity we see in the pages of the New Testament" (Kraft, 172). Christ's message should transform the unchurched and the outcast as well as those who are over-churched and ingrown. The church can respond to humanism with a Christ-centered perspective, to personal gratification with an unwavering devotion to God, to personal liberties with corporate responsibility, and to capitalism with service and generosity (Kraft, 174).

Communication Theory for Christian Witness, by Charles Kraft is a great book for the field of communication from a Christian perspective. It is one of the only books on the subject that begins not with modern psychology or pragmatic pinings, rather with God's Word. At the start of the book, Kraft uses much ink to detail God's communication to man as a basis of how we can most effectively communicate to others. Kraft spends many pages speaking of God becoming flesh in Jesus, to relay His message of hope and Salvation... and in the same way we must meet people as they are to share the message with them. The first few chapters are filled with delightful challenges for us to emulate God communicationally. Then things quickly digress into questionable territory.

After such a solid start, Kraft quickly turns his Biblically based thesis into one of opinion and often contradictory statements. Toward the end, even the solid tangible application turns into mostly unrealistic theory. Statements almost bashing modern "preaching" in favor of laid back "talking" as well as a push away from more literal Bible translations in favor of paraphrases make me question the validity of Kraft's scholasticism. Contradictions such as Krafts angst against those who use flowery, expressive language and large vocabulary to communicate- (as he rants in very flowerly language with many 5 dollar words) made the last few chapters hard to follow. In all, I found the book to be a bit unbalanced. While the first few chapters were groundbreaking in helping us emulate God's communication, the rest of the book was frustrating and hard to follow. Considering it is one of the only books of its kind, I would still recommend this book. If you read it... do yourself a favor and skim the back half.

The "Communication Theory for Christian Witness" attempts to present the principles that can be garnished from how Jesus HImself communicated. Charles H. Kraft has written a pioneering book on communication theory; looking at the methodology Jesus employed. Kraft approaches the book with the premise that not only can we learn from the message Jesus proclaimed, but as the master teacher we can also benefit from how He communicated and delivered His message. Being the only book (I know of)on the market discecting communication from this perspective it make the book whorthwhile to read.

The book begins soley on the premise of Christ's methodology but slowly decrechendos. As the book progresses it subtly shifts to a secular dynamic; leaving its original purpose. This leaving of the stated purpose was the main weakness I found in the book; but again is still a worthwhile read.

Communication Theory for Christian Witness by Charles H. Kraft is a book that I must give a mixed review. There were some strengths, but by and large I did not feel that taking time to read has substantially added anything to my life or ministry. Most of the principles he lays out are not particularly "Christian", though he does give some application from the perspective of a preacher.

This book seems to me to be a book on communication by a man who is not particularly a great communicator. He lays down a lot of great mechanical rules on how to communicate so as how to make a difference, but he does not seem to follow them particularly well. For example, he often harshly scolds strict translations of the bible for their overly technical language and claims that good communicators do not use highly technical language. This may be true, but in his book Kraft uses lots of highly technical language. He mentions the need for examples, but he hardly gives any clear ones himself. He also exalts the communicative power of a life well lived as opposed to communication through language; he also states that written language probably has very little power to change...strange convictions for a man writing a book!

I also had strong disagreements with certain points he either presumed or tried to make. He claims that Christianity in America has become over intellectualised and that as good preachers our goal should try to get people to respond. I feel strongly the opposite: American Christianity his highly sentimental and it is often easy to get American Christians acting but with very little Biblical perspective. On a lesser note he states that a very effective way to open a speech is by giving compliments and thanks to your host audience. I disagree. Such openings are trite and, though they may be polite, they seldom command the attention of your hearers. (The author did not begin his book by thanking me for taking the time to read his work!)

On a more positive note, though I feel that the author failed to apply in the book the principles that he took time describe, some were good principles. Some of the principles he took time to describe were obvious and a bore to read, but others were less obvious and in need of saying. His insistence on not being abstract but on giving concrete examples was great (he should have observed it himself though.) I felt chapter 11 on how to operate was the best chapter in the book. It contained lots of good advise, not all of which was obvious. All in all, I would have to say that there are better books out there.

I have been reading Charles H. Kraft's Communication theory for the Christian Witness (Orbis Books, 1991) over the last few weeks and it's been challenging me to be more intentional with how I interact with people both formally and informally. Kraft is a professor of Anthropology and inter-cultural communication at Fuller seminary in Pasadena, CA. He believes there are discernible rules in the communication process, and knowing these can help a person become a more effective communicator.

Chapters one and two focus on relationships and communication respectively from a biblical perspective. Kraft then proceeds to disassemble some common rules or "myths" people often follow which he believes can operate in a negative way in communication.

The meat and potatoes of his message lie in the rules to help communicators move away from performance driven to receptor oriented communication. He provides the tools to help a communicator identify the types of communication that are going on and then brings the focus back on the receptor. Kraft then underscores the fact that receptors are real people with complex needs, and lives. Thereupon he highlights the need for a message to fit within the rage that a receptor will be receptive to.

Kraft moves on to a good deal of discussion on meaning. First focusing on how meaning is transmitted to individuals using symbols, and then by examining the structures and contexts that can create barriers to effectively transmitting meaning. The mediums and contexts that operate as catalysts of meaning are treated, and a set of best practices are reviewed.

Finally Kraft wraps up the book by bringing the book back to the heart of why he is writing. The goal of Kraft's book is to increase our own conciseness of the communicative interchange that surrounds all we do, so that as presenters we can more effectively transmit our messages to fulfill the purposes of God. Kraft wants to see lives transformed holistically, and a dynamic faith lived out.

We are all communicators, we can't avoid it. Our daily interactions at even the most menial level are transmitting messages to others around us. For many people, myself included, this process goes on often without a great deal of thought or concise involvement. I, for one, know that so often I'm not cognizant of the rules that guide the positions and mediums I employ every day to communicate.

One of the things I appreciate about Kraft's work is how deeply enmeshed with the scriptures it is. His work is laid upon a foundation that looks to how God communicates is his word, and in his world.

At the same time it is very practical, and contemporary. He casts a vision for Christian communication that is "dynamically equivalent." We live in an increasingly pluralistic world. Our methods of communication must be under constant scrutiny or they risk obsolescence.

As I read, I wrote down the following 10 questions to ask myself as I prepare to communicate. These are the main thing I know I am walking away with:

1. Is the message something that could realistically be accepted by the recipient?

2. Does the message establish credibility with the recipient?

3. Is the message relevant to the recipient where they are at?

4. Does the message communicate to the recipient as an individual?

5. Does this message get the attention of the recipient?

6. Is their room for the recipient to explore for themselves within the message?

7. Is my vehicle for transmitting meaning arriving with the cargo intact?

8. Are there other ways I can communicate this that will help more recipients understand?

9. Does the message communicate to the recipient holistically?

10. Am I loving God and the recipient, or simply performing?

Communication remains an ever-present challenge. Communicating to people for change, at any level, provides would-be communicators with the greatest possible challenge. "Communication in ministry is doubly difficult because it carries the responsibility before God to communicate His Word accurately. As spokes-persons for God, we must perpetually strive to improve our skills" (John Miller).

God is the Great Communicator, and as Christians we have opened ourselves to Him both as receptors of His message and as co-laborers with Him in communicating those messages to others (Kraft). In "Communication Theory for Christian Witness", Kraft does a great job in communicating to the reader the dynamics of the communication process. He provides excellent insight into the rules and principles according to which effective communication transactions take place as well as revealing certain ways in which God has employed these principles to communicate His messages.

Working from the Bible, Kraft takes a look at contemporary communication theory to shed light on the communicational dimensions both of what we do and of what God does (as presented in the Bible). "God's communicated activity, then, can provide us with a model to imitate and methods to be guided by. For he has revealed not only the messages to be communicated, but how to communicate them effectively for those receptors who have the interpretational skills to "