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Please, read: The Power of Language Pt. 1: How to Speak The Right Language to Your Followers here. Thank you.
Let us examine a verse by verse exposure to the power of language from the first book of Moses; Genesis 11: 1-8
“And the whole earth was of one language and of one accent and mode of expression. And as they journeyed eastward, they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled and dwelt there. And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. So they had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar.”
Genesis 11:1-3
These people started as one but they didn’t finish as one. The language they spoke as a people to begin the vision was not available to continue and finish the course. The crux of every effectiveness is the capacity of a leader to begin a vision with a language, maintain and sustains that vision with the same language, and finish by speaking the same language he began with. A leader who must communicate a vision and begin with its execution together with a people, should always remember that he must be one with them in language and in accent. Your tone and choice of words should be carefully selected each time you speak.
Good vision with bad presentation will yield low support and followership. Let your words be seasoned with grace, you must speak with authority, but yet; remain humble and open for questioning and clarification of doubts. Language is the only powerful instrument to accomplish a vision. The people were making tremendous progress not just because they had all the resources, tools and skills, but because they could identify and communicate freely with each other. Every effective leaders try as much as possible to eliminate language barrier from their homes, relationships, business, ministry and every other area of life. Let us briefly look at Exodus 4:28-31, before we proceed with our basic scripture.
“Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs with which He had charged him. Moses and Aaron went and gathered together [in Egypt] all the elders of the Israelites. Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the Israelites, and that He had looked [in compassion] upon their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.”
Exodus 4:28-31
Moses is considered to an effective leader and has been the role model of many as regards to this topic. The reason is because he was able to communicate his mandate to Aaron and to the Israelites in the simplest of terms, he didn’t use vague and abstract language. It was something similar and familiar, his language of deliverance is familiar with the Israelites. It wasn’t a language of freedom to an oppressed people. Obviously, they understood because they were in bondage. And so he didn’t just speak, he also showed them signs. The same was replicated with Jesus Christ, He proved himself to be the Messiah by teaching, healing, and preaching simultaneously.
Whom you are and what you have can only be proven by sign language. If your language must be understood, if you want your followers to believe your leadership language then you must speak and show the signs that is commensurate with the mandate and vision for your life. For example a foolish man cannot come to you and speak a language of wisdom, when foolishness is written all over him. Have you been sent to deliver? Then Where is your rod in case we encounter the red sea? You won’t be called a teacher if we can’t understand what you teach. Don’t call yourself a prophet if your words always fall to the ground. You can’t boast like a Samson and run away when you sight a dog. Don’t wish to give what you do not have, it’s a bad Leadership language. If you must be an effective leader then you must Speak to us by Showing us a sign. That is the easiest way to be followed.
Now let us go back to our anchor Scripture.
Genesis 11:4 – And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower whose top reaches into the sky, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the whole earth.
Whatever vision you communicate as a leader to your followers, be sure it is not the permissive will of God but the perfect will of God. A great vision has been communicated, what a powerful speech !but it was not the perfect will of God. They wanted to stay together but God was requiring them to scatter. I hope you have not been building that headquarters to accommodate more people so that they won’t expand. God is saying scatter! Expand, enlarge your tent, lengthen your cords and straighten your stakes, spread your tentacles and increase your capacity. Your vision must transcend the immediate. Do not limit yourself.
The more you scatter the more your influence. Otherwise if allowed, God change your language, that vision would be abandoned just like the tower of Babel. The early church had this same mentality until Stephen had to die before they could scatter. Are you waiting for something to happen before you scatter? Learn from the mistakes of others. Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5:17: “therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
Genesis 11:5 – And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
This was a step God took that we must all learn from. He came down to inspect the progress of the work. It is not enough to identify and speak the language of your followers to join you in pursuit of a vision. When the work begins, do you encourage them? Do you motivate them? Do you go around to establish rapport and familiarize yourself with them? In the next verse we would see God gave a positive recommendation. He didn’t undermine the efforts of the followers. See what He said “Because their language is one, this is the beginning of great and mighty things they will do. they will accomplish whatever they have imagined, nothing would be impossible for them”. What a strong word of encouragement and confidence. If you are the kind of leader that the only language you can speak is to crush people’s spirit and injure their emotions, please desist from that. Embrace team spirit, serve them in humility and speak positive words.
Genesis 11:6 – And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them.”
God saw that they were united and the only thing that could scatter this vision of theirs was to deploy the power of language to confuse them. Every leader must borrow wisdom here. If that great vision must continue to make progress, then there is a need to speak with one voice and one language. There is beauty and uniqueness in diversity of languages but if you lack the capacity to bring them together under one umbrella in unity of purpose then you are bound to fail. Effectiveness begins in an organization when diversity is recognized and appreciated.
Genesis 11:7-8 Come, let Us go down and there confound (mix up, confuse) their language, that they may not understand one another ‘s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from that place upon the face of the whole earth, and they gave up building the city.
Language is the most dangerous weapon that can be used to fight against every determined group of people. If you have been speaking the language that people doesn’t understand, it means soon enough your vision would collapse. And this is where you need the Holy Spirit. When you closely examined the book of Acts 2:3-4. The Scriptures recorded that they spoke in other tongues, but this time around it was understood by the people, they were not confused this time around but they were perplexed. How did I know? See what they said in verse 7 and 8 “they are Galileans, but how is it that we hear, each in our OWN language in which we were born”. Verse 11 says we hear them speaking in our own tongues”
That was an indication that the language that was withdrawn in Genesis 11 was restored back to mankind in Acts. If you must speak the language that the people will understand then it has to be with the help of the Holy Spirit. You Won’t Leave them confused but leave them amazed and convinced because they understand completely the language that you spoke. When the Holy Spirit helps you to interpret or communicate your vision to the people then be rest assured that success is sure. Until you know how to speak the language of the Spirit it will be difficult to speak and convince people with the language of men.
In spite of the heavy anointing upon you, the great vision and burden hanging upon your leadership destiny, when you can’t communicate effectively nobody will believe in you, nobody will follow you. Communication is holistic. It requires speaking verbally and demonstrating it in actions. Jesus Christ the ultimate leader was not speaking and acting differently thereby confusing the disciples. This is how you know a true leader, their attitude, character, what they speak and teach about are simultaneously married together. This confirms a true mark of heaven on their life.
A leader who God is breaking or has broken will showcase this language skills that can only be taught and carried out by the help of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Peter said at one point to the highest authority of the land “we cannot but speak about the things which we have seen and heard” This is the only language that followers understands, it rises and falls on what the followers see and hear. If they must replicate your good works when you are gone then you must begin to screen what you want them to see and hear.
God bless you and thanks for reading.
Source: [Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
