Part 5 (2/2)
”That's a Peterbilt 379 EXHD. Just a minute ago we pa.s.sed a Volvo WG64T and, before that, a Mack CH6113a”
”Ray interrupted again, ”So is this imperative some kind of ”Rainman” gift for identifying big rigs?”
Will laughed. ”No, that's not it. But that is a good example of what I'm talking about.”
”An example of what?”
”Imperative number six is Find Your Voice,” Will said. ”For forty years I was a Kenworth man. I drove a lot of different models in a lot of different colors, but they were all Kenworths. And as a Kenworth man, I wouldn't consider driving a Mack or a Volvoa”or any other truck for that matter. Nothing wrong with those other rigs. In fact, some of them had some nice features. It's just that, I was a Kenworth man and that's the way it was.”
”You sound like some of my NASCAR friends who argue over Ford versus Chevy.”
”Same thing. A Chevy man wouldn't be caught dead in a Ford, and vice versa.”
”I see.”
”Really?”
”No, I'm lying. I don't have a clue what this has to do with anything, but it's interestinga”in a primal, truck driver sort of way. Although, for some reason, I feel like I should be eating some red meat with my fingers.”
Will laughed. ”There it is again.”
Ray looked up. ”What, another truck?”
”No, Ray, your sense of humor. You're really a funny guy. Part of your voice is your humor. The problem is, I never knew that about you.”
Ray gave Will a confused look. ”Maybe I'm missing something, but didn't we just meet yesterday?”
”Not really.” Once again Will reached over and opened the glove box on the dashboard. He reached in and grabbed a handful of ca.s.settes. ”You forget, Ray, that I've known you a lot longer than you've known me.”
”Yeah, Will, but those aren't me; those are my sermons.” As the words came out of his mouth, Ray realized what he was saying. ”I mean, those are a part of me, of course, it's just that a what I'm saying is that listening to a sermon isn't like talking to a person.”
”If you weren't talking to people, just who or what were you talking to?”
”Of course I was talking to people. But it's preaching a you know,” Ray was struggling to explain something that he thought was universally understood.
”You weren't talking to people, Ray. You were talking at people. And there's a big difference.” Will seemed intent on the road ahead, obviously avoiding eye contact. ”What's worse is that it's not even you talking at the people. It's some other guy who's very seriousa”all businessa”and has no sense of humor at all. Shoot, Ray, your voice is even different. I can't tell you how pleasantly surprised I was when I met you. After listening to your messages, I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend a couple of hours with you, much less a couple of days.”
Ray's mind was spinning. When Will decides to back up his truck and dump it, he doesn't hold back. Could all of this be true? Have I been talking at people? Of course I was talking at people. I was preaching! Preachers talk at people. That's what they do. They have for centuries. It's the natural order of things, and who is this truck driver who thinks he can mess with that? Ray was having an argument with himself, and doing quite well until Will broke in.
”Ray? You still with me?”
”I dunno, Will. I think I am buta”this could be someone else speaking and I only think I'm here.” Obviously Ray's feelings were still hurt.
”Look, I told you some of this wasn't gonna be easy.”
”I thought you meant learning some kind of new study technique, not learning to be someone I'm not.”
”That's just it, Raya”you've already learned to be someone you're not! I want you to be who you are. I want you to drive the truck you were born to drive; to Find Your Voice. I want you to stand up in front of your people and be YOU. It's as simple as that. You're a funny man. You're warm and friendly with an amazingly quick wit. You obviously care a great deal for people, and I know you have a lot to offer.”
Ray wasn't sure if a hug was coming, but at the moment he was grateful for the console between him and Will. He knew Will was right. The problem was, he didn't know what to do about it. He had come to Will to find out what to do, and now the answer was to be himself?
”Wait a minute,” Ray said, ”if I'm supposed to be me, why am I here learning how you communicate?”
”That's a valid question. My goal wasn't to give you a speaking style or for you to become a clone of me. My goal was to give you a few things that will allow you to be who you are when you communicate. That's the beauty of taking people on a journey instead of giving them a sermon.”
”Yeah. Okay. I get it a I guess.”
”Do you remember earlier when you told me about your vacation?” Ray nodded. ”That was a storya”and a good one. You told it well. It was interesting and funny and even pretty touching in places. You held my attention the whole time. You do know how to tell a good story, Ray. All you have to do is stand up and tell a story as yourself. Most of the time you seem to be preaching in the third person. You talk about things that happen to other people and things other people have said. That's one of the problems when people ma.n.u.script a message: It sounds like they're reading something because, well, they are reading something. Your congregation needs to hear you talk to them.”
”I know I keep asking the same question, but how, Will?”
”You and I have sat in this truck for the past two days and carried on a conversation. You need to carry on a conversation with your people. You need to pull up a chair and discuss the various topics that you want to cover.”
”But conversations are two-way,” Ray pushed back. ”Am I supposed to open up the floor for questions and comments?”
”Well, that would certainly be engaging,” Will said, ”but I wouldn't recommend it. You can carry on a conversation by asking the questions your audience would ask and then answering them. It's not that you ask them to talk; it's that you acknowledge they're there. We've covered this under ME-WE-G.o.d-YOU-WE. I just want you to believe that you can follow that map as yourself, not as me or as any other communicator.”
”Another communicator?” Ray asked.
”Ray, one of the problems that a lot of communicators have is that they listen to the same preachers all the time. They have their favorites and listen to them so much that they begin to sound like thema”Chuck Swindoll, Charles Stanley, Rob Bella”you name it. The truth is, you need to listen to a lot of different men and women. Not only to be exposed to different ideas, but so you won't be overly influenced by one particular style. Remember, the goal is to be you up there.”
Will paused, glancing over at the young pastor. ”However, there is one communicator that I want you to listen to as much as possible.”
Ray's mind quickly raced through the pantheon of golden-throated orators. Who could he mean? Was there one example out there for all to follow?
”The communicator that you must listen to is you,” Will said.
Pete put you up to this, Ray thought, as he remembered the admonishment to Work on It by listening to his own messages.
Will continued. ”You're going to have to listen to every message. And you have to listen critically and carefully until you find your voice.”
”When you say my voice, you mean my style?”
”I mean, until you and everyone else listening recognizes that you are you. And then once you find it, you have to keep listening to make sure you don't lose it. Also, if you can set up a video camera, that's even better. You'd be surprised how much you can learn by watching yourself speak.”
”I just don't know, Will. I agree with you on this stuff, I just a I just don't know how to start. I've been doing this so long that I don't know if I even can change.”
”I don't want to sound like a broken record here, but you change every Sunday when you walk onto that platform. You enter the church as you, and then when you get behind your pulpit you're a someone else. I'm trying to get you not to change. I'm trying to get you to stay you. But I know what you mean about getting started. I can give you something to try, but it's pretty radical.”
”More radical than flying a thousand miles to learn to preach from a truck driver?”
”Maybe. I want you to close your eyes and think about the one spot on earth where you're most comfortable. The spot where you are most able to be you.”
Ray closed his eyes. ”I don't know. I guess it would be a swing in my backyard that my wife and I sit in.”
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