Swaying the crowd

This morning's meeting was taken by Laurence, obviously a good speaker, his style was informal rather than oratory. Later on in the day I told him that I enjoyed what he said and that he had not come across as flambouyant. He explained that he can "do" flambouyant and I have heard him at various meetings giving poems the theatrical treatment. The way he spoke today was good because the content spoke louder than the delivery. Hopefully more people will get into the "contributary culture" because of it.

Is there a danger that eloquent people can hold sway over others through the force of their delivery? I guess Hitler is an example of someone who excercised this kind of power. I read a description of what it was like to hear him once. The person said that whilst listening to him there was an enthrallment but afterwards you could not really remember what he said. There have been many examples in history of those who have used the gift of communication wrongly to get people to believe a lie.

I think that any response to a word or exhortation where the change of behaviour is based on ones fear of the person speaking or an emotional one following an impassioned appeal can be suspect. Because it is God who turns the heart. God has spoken to me through various means and people not all christian. I received a strong conviction once reading an Anthony Trollope book. In the Bible God even uses an donkey to speak to someone. He always gets through to the heart. I have often found that where I have responded out of fear or emotion to something that has been said in a meeting, that response has only been temporary no matter how much I meant it at the time. Later on maybe God has really spoken to my heart and his word has carried the grace with it for me to change.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that the Lord can speak through men and women of eloquence and power. However the danger of the word being eclipsed by the skill of the speaker is much greater in that case.

Those of us who are never going to sway the world with our eloquence can praise God for Baalam's Donkey!