A comfortable situation

Real communication happens when people feel safe.

Ken Blanchard, The Heart of a Leader

In post-Christian society where religion is suspected and ministers mocked, I think we have to spend longer creating a context in which we can be heard. I don't think this is the same as 'earning the right to be heard'. When it is the gospel we are dealing with, which is the Sovereign God's proclamation to His world, I'm not sure we have to earn the right as such; it's God's world and he can say whatever he likes through whomever he likes to whoever he likes whenever he likes.

But the fact is most people think Christians are wierd, and we need to work hard at creating contexts in which they find we're no more wierd than anyone else (well, you know what i mean). When they feel comfortable, real communication may follow. We can more comfortably speak; and they are more likely to truly hear.