Kenneth Copeland — Communicating True Honor
Since the real nature of honor has largely gone
untaught, caring and knowledgeable Christians have
fought an uphill battle. Far too many of us have been
trying to teach honor using religion as the basis. The
concept of honor has become lost in the translation.
Many people today have no foundation for receiving
spiritual teaching.
Part of this problem is that the Church is divided
into so many different denominations, associations
and affiliations that we no longer speak the same
language. Through the years we have developed different
vocabularies as well as different doctrines and
practices. The result is that we have different terminologies
for different things.
Various groups of Christians speak different
languages. They speak the language of Protestant,
Catholic, Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Pentecostal
and on and on.
To effectively teach honor—real honor—to someone
else, we must learn to speak his language. We
have to learn to interpret our message in terms that
he can understand. We must base the teaching we are
trying to impart to him on something he knows.
Let me give you an example.
Not too long ago, I heard a street gang member
being interviewed on television. He was asked if he
would kill.
“Yeah,” he answered.
He was asked what would cause him to kill.
Immediately he responded, “If somebody jumped on
one of my boys, I’d do what I gotta do.”
My ears perked up.
“Did you hear that, Gloria?” I exclaimed. “There’s
a covenant between those kids, and they’re honoring
their covenant.”
If somebody would go into those gangs, preach
the blood of Jesus and talk with those young people
on a basis they understood, we would see some
results. He might ask them: “Did you know that Jesus
is offering Himself as leader of your group, your gang,
your family of people? His message is simple. He’s saying:
‘You come to Me. When the devil jumps on you,
I’ll do what I have to do. I’ll give you My weapons. I
have given you My life.’” Believe me, they would
understand that type of language.
When I preached the blood covenant this way in
Africa, some of those people sat on the edge of their
seats. And they didn’t stay there! They jumped out
onto the floor. I was talking about the foundation of
their culture—their life.
When I began to talk to those people about honor
coupled with that kind of covenant, I presented the
gospel in a way they could understand. In their culture
they would rather die than dishonor a covenant.
They would rather give up their lives than criticize or
curse somebody who is in covenant with their family.
It is a matter of honor. In fact, these people are taught
that they will die if they dishonor a covenant.
