[This is a part of the Evangelization Basics Series. Have you read the other parts?]
Friends naturally share things with each other. We make friends by finding things we have in common and talking about them.
But did you ever have a conversation with someone that didn’t share anything about themselves? When that happens things pretty much fall flat.
The same thing can happen if we don’t share anything about ourselves with our students. This is where transparency comes in. Our teaching can fall flat and things don’t go anywhere.
Are YOU missing from your teaching? Here’s how transparency works to build trust for evangelization and conversion.
Transparent Evangelization
What is transparency? Transparency is about revealing yourself. It’s letting people know what’s going on inside and letting that show in your teaching. You are transparent in the sense that you aren’t hiding anything–your faith, your motivations, your reasons for standing there and telling them about Catholicism.
In other words, when you’re tranparent your listeners can see right through you and into who you are. This kind of honesty builds trust. It allows your students to really see what God is doing in your life. That makes a difference. It gives you credibility.
Source Skepticism
In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath talk about the skepticism we have to the messages we receive. “Who’s behind these messages? Should I trust them? What do I have to gain if I believe them?” they ask.
“A commercial claiming that a new shampoo makes your hair bouncier has less credibility than hearing your best friend rave about how a new shampoo made her own hair bouncier. Well, duh. The company wants to sell you shampoo. Your friend doesn’t, so she gets more trust points. The takeaway is that it can be the honesty and trustworthiness of our sources, not their status, that allows them to act as authorities.” Made to Stick, p. 137
Transparency Facilitates Trust
The truth is, we’re like the shampoo commercial when we ask them to believe Catholicism. They’re wondering who’s behind this message, can he be trusted and what do I gain if I believe. We must establish “trust points!” Your honesty, transparency and trustworthiness, not your status or professional credentials, become your authority.
Revealing yourself and your own struggles makes you more credible, more trustworthy, more human. When they see how Christ has changed your life for the better, they will be motivated to change themselves. If they can see it in your face, they’ll know it’s real.
What do you think? Have you found this to be true? Do you find this difficult to do? Let’s talk about it in the comments below?
[This is a part of the Evangelization Basics Series. Have you read the other parts?]
Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen! Right on my brother. I think that your points here explain our generations fascinations with biographies. We deeply desire to see truth revealed in the real–the real life of someone we know or want to know. Great post Marc. Can’t wait to read the book you’re “blogging” on evangelization. It is SO clear that you love people and the Lord and want to bring them together!
That’s an interesting insight about biographies. I think you’re right. We always want to know the inside scoop. Good biographies tell you the rest of the story…the motivations, thoughts and behind the scenes details you didn’t know before. We understand who the people were and how they ticked.
Thanks for the comment!
Thanks Crystal. Your comments are right on! The most difficult thing is showing what we believe by how we live our lives. However, that’s the one that really does it!
I think you’re right about the inner conflict. There’s a fear of letting out who we really are as well because of what others will say. That goes toward the compartmentalizing you talked about. We’re afraid to appear a certain way to some people because of the different sections we live in. And, our “Christ section” doesn’t fit anywhere. But, we should be one thing to all and that’s who we are! That is transparency isn’t it?
Thanks for the book tip too. I’ll have to check that out!