Winnie the Pooh said it the best when he told Piglet, "Sometimes the less you say, the more people understand. Keep it simple."
Remember President Bill Clinton's campaign slogan from 1992, "It's the Economy, Stupid?" Sounds like Pooh was an advisor.
Much too often, we as Conservatives, Republicans, Christians or Libertarians, are so bent on flooding people with information that we miss the mark. For example, the federal government is $17 trillion in debt. Unfortunately, that number is so large that just saying it means nothing because who can honestly fathom a number such as 17 trillion? We get out our pie charts and spreadsheets to convey that the USA is going down in flames. Most people are turned off by the charts and related statistics.
Instead of the pie chart, give people a Girl Scout cookie. As they are munching on the cookie, tell them that you could buy 17,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies for every man, woman and child in the US for $17,000,000,000,000.00. Suddenly, 17 trillion becomes real. How about this: $17 trillion dollars could buy all of the goods and services in Austrialia for 17 years. Get the picture (in your head)?
Through parables, Jesus was a master at bringing His messages of enteral life and how to treat each other down to a level where the masses could visualize and readily understand his point. He took the normal, everyday cultural occurances and made them relevant so that the people hearing the message could grasp it by seeing it in their minds. Jesus wasn't demeaning them by dummying it down so-to-speak. He valued them enough by coming down to their level so that they could understand.
I've seen many Christians, Republicans, Conservatives, etc..., try and wow the masses with excel spreadsheets, and other technical applications that no one but them seems to understand, let alone care about. Meanwhile, the Democrats, Liberals, Progressives, etc..., have learned to parlay people's emotions into relevant visual pictures that they can fully grasp and comprehend. It becomes real to them. It's no wonder our side is losing.
Characters at Walt Disney World value children not by just talking to them, but by squatting down to talk to them at their level. The three year old gets a sense of value when Mickey Mouse looks him in the eye.
We need to start valuing people and not hating them just because they do not agree with us.
We too can learn from Mickey and Pooh --- value people and keep it simple by outlining the conservative message using culturally relevant stories and pictures so that the message is seen visually and not just heard. Bring it to their level. Know your audience.
Remember President Bill Clinton's campaign slogan from 1992, "It's the Economy, Stupid?" Sounds like Pooh was an advisor.
Much too often, we as Conservatives, Republicans, Christians or Libertarians, are so bent on flooding people with information that we miss the mark. For example, the federal government is $17 trillion in debt. Unfortunately, that number is so large that just saying it means nothing because who can honestly fathom a number such as 17 trillion? We get out our pie charts and spreadsheets to convey that the USA is going down in flames. Most people are turned off by the charts and related statistics.
Instead of the pie chart, give people a Girl Scout cookie. As they are munching on the cookie, tell them that you could buy 17,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies for every man, woman and child in the US for $17,000,000,000,000.00. Suddenly, 17 trillion becomes real. How about this: $17 trillion dollars could buy all of the goods and services in Austrialia for 17 years. Get the picture (in your head)?
Through parables, Jesus was a master at bringing His messages of enteral life and how to treat each other down to a level where the masses could visualize and readily understand his point. He took the normal, everyday cultural occurances and made them relevant so that the people hearing the message could grasp it by seeing it in their minds. Jesus wasn't demeaning them by dummying it down so-to-speak. He valued them enough by coming down to their level so that they could understand.
I've seen many Christians, Republicans, Conservatives, etc..., try and wow the masses with excel spreadsheets, and other technical applications that no one but them seems to understand, let alone care about. Meanwhile, the Democrats, Liberals, Progressives, etc..., have learned to parlay people's emotions into relevant visual pictures that they can fully grasp and comprehend. It becomes real to them. It's no wonder our side is losing.
Characters at Walt Disney World value children not by just talking to them, but by squatting down to talk to them at their level. The three year old gets a sense of value when Mickey Mouse looks him in the eye.
We need to start valuing people and not hating them just because they do not agree with us.
We too can learn from Mickey and Pooh --- value people and keep it simple by outlining the conservative message using culturally relevant stories and pictures so that the message is seen visually and not just heard. Bring it to their level. Know your audience.
- BELIEVE in your principles and your message.
- ACT by first valueing others.
- SERVE by taking your message directly to them and keeping it simple.