Words don’t take us as far as we think.

It has taken me years to realize the power of saying less. I’m a good talker. I enjoy it. But I’ve had to face the fact that in persuading other people, very little is accomplished through the force of words.

From the listeners standpoint, I’ve come to realize that a few words go a long way; a lot of words make the journey seem very long. If you want people to think you’re smart, don’t jabber away. We tend to do this when we feel insecure, filling the dead air with our words.

He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent. Proverbs 17:27-28

So if we’re not supposed to talk, how do we get people to buy into our idea? According to Harvard Business Review author Kimberly Elsbach, they’re not so much buying into our idea as they’re buying into us. In her article How to Pitch a Brilliant Idea, Elsbach uses the Hollywood screenwriting pitch as an example. While much of the article is spent giving excellent advice on the words and delivery of the pitch, Elsbach says people form their judgments from a variety of factors not dependent on words:

We all like to think that people judge us carefully and objectively on our merits. But the fact is, they rush to place us into neat little categories – they stereotype us… And they’re going to do it really fast. So the first thing to realize when you’re preparing to make a pitch to strangers is that your audience is going to put you in a box. And they’re going to do it really fast. Research suggests that humans can categorize others in 150milliseconds. Within 30 minutes, they’re made lasting judgments about your characters.

Elsbach goes on to talk about different stereotypes that pitchers are grouped into, and how to use those stereotypes to your own advantage. Like most human beings, the people receiving the pitch believe that creative types posses common traits. They include unconventionality, intuitiveness, sensitivity, narcissism, passion, youth and a fashion sense that encapsulates them all. One of the quickest way for us to bust that stereotype and disappoint their expectations is to jabber endlessly. It’s not about saying nothing. It’s about realizing that what we say isn’t everything.

Many people think God is ready to hurl lightning down from heaven to punish them for doing something wrong. Whenever something bad happens – storms, tornadoes, hurricane, the news commentators and the insurance companies call them acts of God.

But they are not God’s acts at all. They are from Satan, a fallen archangel once named Lucifer. The result of living in a world thrown off it’s original plan the sin of rebellion. God put Lucifer in command over the earth. Then, he led a rebellion against God for control of heaven. Now defeated, he operates an insurgency against God and God’s people. He led Adam into man’s great rebellion. Jesus says he (Satan) comes to steal, kill and destroy.

The truth is, God did act and bring something from heaven to earth. But it’s not lightning and tornadoes. It’s his son, Jesus under a new covenant…

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm… The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn [Jesus], whose names are written in heaven. Hebrews 12:18-23

For years, I thought God the father wasn’t to fond of me. He seemed like an angry Tony Soprano, the fictional mob boss with Jesus protecting me from getting hit. I think a lot of people see God this way. For more on this, check out my blog posting, Is God An Angry Tony Soprano?

That’s what I thought for most of my life, including many years as a Christian.

Easter weekend is upon us, a day when Christians remember the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It occurred about 2000 years ago. We believe Jesus is the Son of God, and also the physical manifestation of God. Yet Jesus was also a person like you and me, only He was perfect and sinless. He had a father, too, namely God, who gave him all authority to do anything he wanted here on planet earth. With one word, he could have called legions of warrior angels to smite the earth.

But something very unexpected happened in Jesus’ life, something that changed the world forever. At age 33, this all-powerful man allowed himself to be captured. He knew that a horrific crucifixion waited for him at the hands of the Romans. He was beaten, his hands and feet were nailed to wooden posts in the shape of a cross, then he slowly bled out over hours in the hot sun. He did so as an innocent, having done nothing wrong.

Any God that would do this seems pretty angry. A first thought it does imply God is an angry Tony Soprano. But there is another, surprising perspective.

God wants us back.

We’ve got to understand this from God’s perspective. Like Tony, he makes the rules. And, like Tony, somebody has to pay. But unlike Tony, it’s not us.

The path back has always been through the combination of two things: the shedding of innocent blood and our desire to leave the rebellion and come back his way. About 4000 years ago, God made a covenant with the Jewish people through Moses. He had them sacrifice a spotless, innocent lamb in their temple once a year, and sprinkle its blood on the altar. A few thousand years later he made a second covenant, this time with all people. Jesus came to earth to be the sacrifice, once and for all. That’s why, in the bible, Jesus is also called the lamb of God. All we have to do is desire to turn from our rebellion, and take by faith, Jesus’ blood as the atonement for our sins.

But with one covenant already in place, why did Jesus want to do a second? Why did he give up a perfectly good life to go through a horrible death? He had it all. Well, not really. He didn’t have us.

And frankly, God wants us back.

So, Jesus went to the cross, because he loves us. Right? Well, yes and no. He does love us, he did go in our place. But I can’t find that in the bible as his reason (if you can, let me know in the comments).

So the father God must be behind this. Does he really love us? I never thought so.

For years, I thought God was angry and would just as soon smite me as look at me. God seemed like an angry Tony Soprano, the fictional mob boss. I think a lot of people see Him this way. Whenever something bad happens to us, we ask, “Why doesn’t God love me?” Whenever there is a big natural disaster, it is called an act of God.

So I came into Christianity with this notion that God was after me, and thankfully, Jesus, as Tony’s son, was always trying to protect me. He even took a bullet in my place. God fired it at me and it hit Jesus instead. This was all wrong. The reality is that because of God’s love, He ordered Jesus to catch the bullet. And it was actually a bullet fired by me, because of my rebellion. How do I know God was behind the crucifixion? Because Jesus told Nicodemus, the high priest…

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

Wait! God loves the world!? That means God loves me! I fit in that group.

How can someone as bad as Tony Soprano love me? Tony would never give up his own son, certainly not for me. The answer is, he can’t. God is definitely not Tony. They’re not the same at all.

Not surprisingly, Jesus wasn’t too keen on the crucifixion. In the Garden of Gethsemane, with the horror just days away, Jesus prayed…

My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will. Matthew 26:39

Jesus went out of obedience, not (just) love. In fact, it was the father’s love that planned it…

…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelations 13:8

So, what does all this mean for me, Andrew?

When I realized it is God’s love that sent Jesus to the cross, it changed my perspective. God is not a Tony Soprano trying to get me. I did not have to be afraid. He’s my loving father, too!

And those terrible acts of God? They are not God’s acts at all. God and his angels are in a war with a fallen Archangel who led a rebellion against God in heaven. The Archangel was called Lucifer before the Rebellion. Now, he’s called Satan, Beelzebub, the Devil, etc. Satan despises God and His people, especially if they become part of God’s family. Satan is the real Tony Soprano.

By the way, check out the movie The Passion for everything you wanted to know about the crucifixion but were afraid to ask.