"The preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else." (Alma 31:5) While reading this scripture it's easy to miss the first two words "the preaching." But those are the keywords. It's not the word itself, but the preaching of it. This is better explained by Nephi: "when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men." (Nephi 33:1) I believe that the spirit can work more effectively through the voice of a servant, than the pen of a servant.
Let's look at an example: When Nephi tried to convince his brothers to help him build a ship, his words were crucial. Can you imagine what would have happened if the entire conversation was done texting back and forth?
Fortunately for Laman, Lemuel, and the rest of us, Nephi was able to engage them in a live conversation.
Why does the spirit work more efficiently through a speaker than through text?
There are many possible reasons for this. Staying on gospel topics, Preach My Gospel may have some insight. Let's just look at some of the topics within the 'how can I improve my teaching skills?':
- Adjust Your Teaching to Meet Needs
- Teach with Your Companion in Unity
- Ask Questions
- Listen
Its kind of interesting how well the skills taught in PMG line up with the rhetorical techniques we've been learning about. Adjust Your Teaching to Meet Needs is just knowing your audience and evaluating the kairos of the situation.
ReplyDeleteI used to have this conversation with companions all the time. Whenever we'd fall into a rote presentation, I'd tell them there was no difference between that and the Watchtowers that had been placed on the door before us, and we were quickly becoming the world's most expensive pamphlets. It always made a great impression. :P
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