The reason most people don’t hear what the church says

Everywhere you look in our busy world, there’s a lot of information. If you want the information, that’s a good thing. If you don’t think you need it, it’s an annoyance, so you learn to ignore it for sanity reasons.

We all get too many emails, see too many social media posts and get too many advertising messages, and it seems like that overwhelming wave of information is growing. It’s impossible to keep up.

In the midst of information overload, the church is attempting to break through people’s full inboxes and neverending social media scrolling. If churchgoers miss the church’s posts, then the community certainly misses the overly religious messaging while the event promotion gets lost.

Why does this happen? Communication noise is drowning the church’s message out. How do we fix it? Here are four steps:

1. Identify your limited “who.” If you try to reach everyone, you’ll reach no one. Instead, concentrate on one or two limited and stereotypically defined groups that you have access to. Make sure the group you’re focusing on is large enough to help your church grow. It’s always wise to choose a growing group in your area that is not declining. Once you identify the group, fall in love with the people in it. Research demographics, talk to them, ask them questions and listen.
2. Listen for needs, concerns and goals. Part of loving someone is the desire to help them with solutions to needs and concerns or guiding them along a path to accomplish their goals. Want to rise above the noise? Authentically become their pain expert! Sure, you know they need Jesus, but they don’t realize it yet. Communicate about what keeps them up at night or weighs heavily on their shoulders. It’s probably not going to be defined by them as a spiritual issue, so don’t always talk about spiritual solutions. They’ll be ignored. Get their attention and engage with them, and then tell them about the gospel and Jesus.
3. Concentrate on one solution. If you talk about too many solutions, it’ll only add to the noise. So calm your messaging by focusing on one engaging solution. It needs to become a thread that unites your ministry focus. It also needs to connect easily to the scarlet thread of the gospel. Think about three to five words that will get your target group to look up. It needs to be unique, memorable and useable. It’s not your vision, mission or values, but it sure supports them. When you say less, they’ll listen more. The thread also needs to be broad enough that it can be unpacked and talked about for years. Be known for it.
4. Sing in unison. If a choir is singing in a loud outdoor venue, it sounds good when you’re close. The farther you move away, the music is drowned out by the noise, especially if they’re singing complex harmonies. Want the choir to rise above the noise? Get them to sing in unison. Your ministries are like a choir. Want to be heard far and wide into your community? Get one thread that’s a solution to your target group. And sing, sing, sing in unison! You’ll be heard.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Mark MacDonald is a communication pastor, speaker, consultant, bestselling author, church branding strategist for  BeKnownforSomething.com and executive director of Center for Church Communication, empowering 10,000+ churches to become known for something relevant (a communication thread) throughout their ministries, websites, & social media. His book, Be Known for Something, is available at BeKnownBook.com.