The message or the approach?

At what point is it needful to alter yourself (i.e. appearance, personality, etc) to try to make yourself identifiable or what people say "relatable" to other people that may not look or act like you do? This is a question I've been asking myself lately, and honestly I haven't come up with an answer just yet. I hear people say that all the time, that in a certain situation they had to make themselves more relatable to a group of people they were encountering or something to that affect. And in my mind I always thought that was a cool thing to do...you know...make other people feel comfortable with you to win their favor so they'll give you the opportunity to pitch whatever message that you're trying to convey, and make it easier for them to accept it coming from you. Until today, I never really questioned that approach. Does altering your approach place more emphasis on them rather than the message? Would that be considered a form of compromising? In a way, now that I'm thinking about it, it kinda seems that way, but I don't know. I know that business professionals do it all the time. When communicating business plans/deals with companies/people of a different culture (i.e. Japanese, Chinese, etc), the most successful approaches are those that take into consideration the culture of the other party...how they do business, how they interact, their taboos, their dislikes, etc. And in order to expect to win their business, your approach has to be altered to fit into their way of doing business. Does this concept also branch into spirituality? Could a preacher successfully pitch God's message to dope addicts or homeless men and women dressed in a suit and driving down into their neighborhood in his Benz? Could gospel artists (such as the one's we know, love, and listen to on a daily basis) reach a generation of people who grew up on hip-hop, pitch the unadulterated message of salvation successfully without adding the same hip-hop sound to their cuts? Is the power in the message or in the approach? Without a doubt I believe the message of Jesus is powerful, and I also believe the approach matters, but somehow, I fear, we've gotten to caught up in the approach that the message has lost its power.

I guess I'm just wondering how all this works. Those of us who impact influence in other people's lives have to take this sorts of things into consideration, regardless in what aspect..whether you're a manager, a minister, business owner, etc. Sometimes I find myself altering things that I'm not sure need be altered in order to win the favor of others who are not necessarily familiar with certain things I'm familiar with. While it may make them feel comfortable, does it make me? Am I holding true to what I know works in my life for trying to cater to what works in others'?

I guess it really depends on the situation, whether or not it's really necessary to change things to be more relateable to others. If it's at the costs of compromising standards we've been given and we hold dear, then that's where it becomes a problem. I guess then I have some examinations of my own self to do cause I'm guilty of that myself. Just my thoughts for today I wanted to share...but I'd love to hear some of your experiences and/or thoughts about this as well.

Next I'll be blogging about Basbetball for all my b-ball fans. Yup...it's that time again!!!

L8r:
~faithe