How to Argue Like Jesus

How to Argue like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator was not what I originally first thought it was. At first, I only noticed the main title and ignored the subtitle. But the subtitle is where it's at, folks. Do you have to be a Christian to be able to profit from this book? No. (Will it help? Absolutely.) It is all about learning how to dialogue with others using the speech patterns/tactics (if you will) of one of the world's greatest communicators. (THE greatest communicator. Think about it for more than 5 minutes and I'm guessing you'll have to agree that, no matter what your thoughts of Jesus, He is arguably the best communicator that the world has ever seen because He communicated perfectly every single time. In other words, He knew how to best make His point.)

Do you have a high school student that is studying the art of debate? Pick up this book. Do you need to know how to converse with someone, anyone, on any subject at all? Pick up this book. It examines speech and debate tactics which Jesus used magnificently well and talks about why certain approaches in speech work to communicate points while as other methods might not be half as effective as you might otherwise desire.

In short, this book is top notch for debate students. I'll be hanging on to this book as a reference for when our kids are old enough to study speech and debate methods. It's excellent.

What did I get out of it for myself? Mostly, I honed in on the author's encouragement/instruction to "be real" with the information I'm sharing. Do I sincerely believe the words that are coming out of my mouth? If not, I should probably think twice before saying anything at all. My words, my passions and my beliefs need to be sincere, focused and truthful in all ways and at all times. That is one of the ways in which your communication is effective - when people can tell that you are the real deal. Jesus was the real deal and I, too, should be. It's not an easy thing to carry off all of the time but it's something to work towards not just in real life but here in bloggy land! Real thoughts, real life, real living. (That last tagline was somewhat stolen from someone.) Not a bad motto or goal to strive towards, ya think?

How to Argue like Jesus really is fantastic and it is a great resource, especially for anyone desiring to be an effective communicator. This is a new release from Crossway Books and a worthwhile resource to spend some time with. Grab a copy. Soon. You'll be glad of it.