February 3, 2008
SoulTalk
Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks
The Language of Soul Talk
SoulTalk3.mp3
Pastor Wade Burleson
Emmanuel Baptist Church
Enid OK

John 17:22-23 (ESV)

22. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
23. I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

When Christians gather for "fellowship," we usually spend our time in small talk. If discussions ever get serious, we usually listen in order to try to fix what we think is wrong, or we spend a great deal of effort to try to make each other feel better, but rarely do we convey in our conversations the transforming power of SoulTalk. A few hours before Jesus died, Jesus asked his Father to make the people who would follow him "as unified and together as we are . . . . Then they'll be mature in this oneness, and give the godless world evidence that you've sent me" (John 17:22-23 The Message Translation). Why are we Christians often more separated than united? Our conversations with each other are not a stage on which the supernatural power of God is unmistakably displayed.

1. The natural flow of conversation is usually powerless SelfTalk.
   When we are aware of only natural thoughts and feelings in our soul, and we put a positive spin on what is going on inside, we end up with a socialized SelfTalk. We end up with cleaned-up pettiness, friendly self-centeredness, socialiazed SelfTalk.
   1. SelfTalk is self-centered . . . it's about what I get from the conversation, what I feel as we talk, how I am seen by you when we talk, what I need in our talk.
   2. SelfTalk is easy . . . the least difficult thing in life is to focus on myself.
   3. SelfTalk is lifeless . . . there is no real power to give life, real life. It is fruitless.
2. The supernatural flow of conversation can be powerful SoulTalk.
   We are speaking SoulTalk when the words we utter are formed by the passion to see another person want God more than anything else and trusting the Spirit to help us listen lovingly and then communicate clearly words that fulfill the purpose of God. To care about someone's soul, enough to learn SoulTalk, is quite biblical in nature. "I am in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you" (Galatians 4:19 NIV). Again, the agenda is to see someone's appetite for God become the ruling passion. The actual life of the Trinity is in you. That life can flow from you to other people.

1. Think beneath. We will learn to see clearly the real battle that is being fought in someone's soul. It is the invisible battle that most folks ignore.
2. Think vision. This will require imagination as we capture a vision of what the Spirit can do in a person's life and are excited to see it happen.
3. Think passion. We will come to the place where we face the real mess that exists in our soul as we speak to others -- with humility and courage.
4. Think story. We will learn to meet the real person with whom we are talking. There will be a transcendent curiosity that leads to safe exploration.
5. Think movement. We will follow the Spirit as He penetrates every defense against true brokenness and every layer of self-sufficiency until the true soul is released to love God as the supreme treasure of life.