We have Pastor Jay Alford with us this week at our church as an advisor for some constitutional changes that are being proposed. Retired, filled with a wealth of knowledge and experince, he's a valuable resource for any pastor or minister.
He told me last night - to be successful in ministry: Know God, Know the Word, and know people.
Really, that's true for any occupation. To be successful in any arena depends upon one's ability to relate and have strong, bonding relationships.
Part of good, bonding relationships is the ability to dialogue.
Read the article below. Trust it helps.
levels of dialogue—social, argumentative, and pragmatic
One of the goals in fostering learning communities (this can be true of blog spaces as well) is to move participants past the introductions, through the “wallowing in the shallows”, beyond argumentation, to meaningful reasoned discourse about concepts, ideas, and new levels of synergistic learning.
According to experts, there are three general forms of dialogue: social dialogue; argumentative dialogue, and pragmatic dialogue.*
Social dialogue—is simple chitchat—news like someone just signing papers on their first home or having a new grandchild. This is important for people to know and be known and for a greater perspective and appreciation of a person’s history and the course of their life.
Argumentative dialogue—is the attempt to use our rhetorical power to score points in our own eyes while at the same time impressing others regarding our positions on subjects, our knowledge, and particularly our deeply felt biases and prejudices. The goal is to strongly advocate for a particular view with the use of impassioned presentation employing supportive evidence in an effort to change the listener’s or reader’s minds on any given subject. Participants involved in argumentative dialogue take and defend positions with a combative, “win-lose” mindset.
Pragmatic dialogue—or reasoned discourse on the other hand is a process that challenges participants to move beyond debate to honor multiple perspectives by sorting through tensions and seeking deeper common meaning and outcomes. The focus is “win-win” and the goal is not to persuade, but rather to inquire and to use the dialogue to inform participants in both a collective and individual way so that they exchange varied thoughts, ideas, and approaches to whatever subject matter they’re considering.
The benefit of pragmatic, reasoned discourse is synergy—the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.
“So Paul reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there” (Acts 17:17).
Good stuff
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1 comment:
I had a pragmatic conversation a few weeks ago at work about my faith. It was very interesting because I was sharing why I believe Jesus is God, the only way to heaven. He said the only time he has had conversations like this with people is over a drink. I had to laugh because he was actually the one uncomfortable, not me. I asked him if he needed a drink to continue our discussion and he said it would be nice. I laughed even more. We did continue our discussion and got into some politics in terms of right-wing, left week conservatives, liberals and why he thinks the way he does, and vice versa. It was a refreshing conversatoin because I could be completley honest, while being sensitive to where he is on the issues. So much for never talk politics or religion. His wife later told me he was afraid it would ruin our working relationship. For me, a Christian, open dialogue to understand one another is what strengthens relationships, not turns them away - or so it should be. If we do know the Lord, scripture, the Lord will help us especially on conversations where we don't think alike. We can always listen to understand. Always.
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