PUBLIC SPEAKING

 Public Speaking

Many people suffer from glossophobia, the fear of public speaking. Arguably Moses must have suffered something of this nervous condition. For, when God was calling him to be His spokesman to Israel, it says, ‘Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”’ Exodus 4:10.

Though without the benefit of hearing the audible voice of God, I too used a similar excuse while wondering if God was calling me to be a preacher. “But Lord, I have a different accent to the Australians. They won’t understand me.” Shortly thereafter on a Monday I was invited to lead the following Sunday evening service, as a trial. What do I do? I was told that all I needed to do was make a few scribbles on a piece of paper as notes and explain and apply some portion of Scripture to the congregation. Too easy – not! My sermon was over in the length of time it took me to decipher my few scrawls! It was one of the most nerve-wracking things I had done to date. Apparently, my face was pasty white and, because I was sweating profusely, my glasses were constantly slipping down my nose as I glugged copious amounts of water from a glass! I still get nervous when doing public speaking, even after years of experience. However, paradoxically, once I get through the initial introductory remarks, I now actually enjoy public speaking.

Being able to read your audience helps. But spare a thought for the prophet Jeremiah. “‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.’ But the Lord said to me: ‘Do not say, “I am a youth.” For you shall go to all I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD.’ Jeremiah 1:6-8. Or Ezekiel, ‘For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them “Thus says the LORD God.”’ Ezekiel 2:4. Or when Jesus sent out the seventy, ‘Go your way; behold I send you out as lambs among wolves’ Luke 10:3.

As with Moses, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and with all of the Lord’s prophets, disciples, and all duly called preachers, there’s comfort in what the Lord replied to Moses’s evasions, ‘So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?”’ Therefore, lest we be struck dumb like Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, we ought to believe God. For, if He duly calls you to say to His people, ‘Thus says the LORD God’, then He will go with you. Therefore, not evasive protest but humble prayer ought to precede any proclamation of God’s Word.

What message did Jesus, the Master public speaker, send John the Baptist? ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.’ Matthew 11:4b-6.

If public speaking in general is daunting, then preaching the Gospel is doubly daunting. For, not everyone appreciates the Good News, ‘For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’ 1 Corinthians 1:18. Even so, whether speaking at weddings, funerals, company picnics, or standing in a pulpit, instead of avoidance, simply ask God to go with you.