舉例來說，末日決戰是我最暢銷的一本書，常常進入排行榜，最近又升到第四名。我在我們的電子通訊與晨星期刊中刊登第一章，我常把著作刊登上去。在這些內容刊登後，一群朋友來會見我，他們告訴我不應該出版這本書。他們認為這本書太具爭議性，可能會損害我的事工。我問他們覺得這本書所寫的是不是真理，他們一致認為是真理而且是很重要的真理，但基督肢體無法面對像末日決戰這樣的書。我回答他們我並不在乎是否會損害我的事工，因為我不是在這裡建造一個事工，乃是要成為神所託付我的忠心管家─我知道神不會平白給予我此信息，我不會將它掩埋。
我離開會議後想著他們有可能是對的，公開此信息可能會終結我的事工，至少會終結正在成長的晨星事工。我誠實開始思考自己回去開飛機維生的可能性，或者是回到商業界。倘若我將此大有能力經歷的信息束之高閣，連我自己都無法面對自己。當然，事實剛好相反，出版這本書反而將晨星事工推到更高層面的影響與效率。為什麼我要在這裡說這些事呢？
要在我們來到地上之目的上有效率，我們總是必須先順服神。我並不是在說自己從未受試探選擇簡單的道路，或是比較不受抵擋的道路，有時我可能真的這樣做。然而，無論何時我想要做的事，當我不管結果如何都下決心要這樣做，結果遠比我所預期的更好。正如我們提到認識時候、景況與讀者的一些重點，好使我們成為更有效率的傳達者，信息是否被許多人接受與效率無關。在約翰福音六章，耶穌傳達的信息導致群眾散去，甚至連許多門徒都離開祂。然而，那是出於神的信息，多少人領受與其價值無關。
我認識一些自稱為先知的人，他們覺得若沒有冒犯大部分的聽眾，他們就沒有說出真實的信息。那也是愚昧，但說預言與教導的目的可能不盡相同，若是主的信息，就會貼切時候與景況。我們若傳遞祂所渴望的信息，就會以對的方式傳達到對的人身上。因為人的方式常與神的方式相反，這意味祂的信息按著祂想要的方式傳遞出去，結果仍可能是拒絕多過接受─甚至可能產生完全的拒絕。主信實的警告人們，儘管祂知道他們不會聽，因為即使我們不忠心，祂仍是信實的。
我們最近一次的橡樹行動會議約有150人參加，蘭斯沃朗（Lance Wallnau）詢問有多少人要報名兩天的研討會，主題是有效率的溝通，每個人九百美元，總共有60人報名。這些人非常有智慧，蘭斯的研討會通常要三倍以上的費用。最成功的人每年都會付這樣的費用，因為他們知道報酬率遠超過費用的好幾倍。溝通傳達是如此重要，它會成為你生活效率最巨大的影響因素之一。正如我看著那些報名的人，我知道他們已經有許多人是成功人士，所以他們才報名。
我的重點是，我們若認為自己被授予一個寶藏，我們應該盡可能致力成為最好的器皿。倘若你是一位牧師或教師，你要竭盡所能提升你的傳達技巧。倘若你是一位作家，也要竭盡所能提升你的技巧。倘若我們為此擺上，看重信息或目的，主會看見並且託付我們更多。
(摘自 喬納 word for the week, Week 43, 2010)
Prepared for the Times, Part 43
Week 43, 2010
Last week we discussed a basic characteristic of high-impact people—they discern the times, the present situation, their audience, and their message is relevant to all three. To do this, we must also be good listeners, but as Jesus once warned, we must be careful “how we listen.”
For example, one of my bestsellers was The Final Quest, and it continues to spike up the charts and occasionally. Recently it rose to number four again. I circulated the first chapters of this book in our newsletters and The MorningStar Journal, which I often do with my books. After these chapters had been circulated, a group of friends asked me to come to a meeting. They told me that I should not publish this book. They thought that it was too controversial, and they felt that it would ruin my ministry. I asked them if they felt the book was truth or not, and they all thought that it was truth, and important truth, but that the body of Christ could not handle a book like The Final Quest. I replied that I didn’t care if it ruined my ministry because I was not here to build a ministry, but to be a faithful steward of what I was entrusted with—that I knew I had been given this message for a reason, and I would not bury it.
I left that meeting thinking they were probably right and to distribute that message might be an end to my ministry, at least the growing type of ministry MorningStar had become. I honestly started thinking I might have to go back to flying planes for a living, or go back into business. I don’t think I could have lived with myself if I shelved that message that had come through such powerful experiences. Of course, the opposite was in fact the case as it propelled MorningStar to a much higher level of influence and effectiveness. Why am I bringing this up here?
To be effective at what we are here for, we must always keep obeying God first. I don’t claim to have never been tempted to take the easy path or path of least resistance, and I may well have done it at times. However, whenever I want to do what is right regardless of the consequences and have resolved to do this, the consequences have actually been far better than I ever expected. As we have addressed a few points about knowing the times, the situation, and the audience in order to be more effective communicators, having a message be well received by many people is not necessarily an indicator of its effectiveness either. In John 6, Jesus gave a message that so thinned the crowd out that even many of His disciples departed from Him. However, it was a message that had to be given, and the number of people who received it was not a barometer of its value.
I know some who claim to be prophets who feel that if they have not offended a large portion of their audience then they are not speaking the true message. That is foolish too, but prophesying and teaching can have different purposes. If they are the Lord’s message, they will fit the times and the situation. If we deliver the message as He desires, it will reach the right people in the right way. Because man’s ways are often so contrary to God’s ways, this often means that His message, delivered just the way He wants it delivered, can still result in more rejection than acceptance—it can even result in total rejection. The Lord is faithful to warn people even though He knows they will not listen because He is faithful even if we are unfaithful.
In our recent Oak Initiative meeting with about 150 attending, Lance Wallnau asked how many people would sign up for a two-day seminar on effective communications for $900 each and 60 people signed up right then. These were very wise people. A seminar like Lance’s will usually cost at least three times as much. The most successful people pay this or more every year because they know the dividends will be many times the cost. Communication is that important, and it can be the one factor to most radically impact your effectiveness in life. As I watched those who signed up, I knew many of them and they were already successful people. That’s why they signed up.
My point is that if we think we have been given a treasure, we should be devoted to being the best vessel for it we possibly can. If you are a preacher or teacher, do whatever it takes to keep upgrading your skills of delivery. If you are a writer, keep doing whatever it takes to keep upgrading your skills. If we have this devotion and respect for the message or purpose, the Lord will see this and trust us with more.