You talking to me?

In the Academy Award-nominated film Taxi Driver, starring Robert De Niro, an iconic line emerged. The character Travis Bickle, a Vietnam War veteran suffering from PTSD and a personality disorder, is a taxi driver in New York City. In one scene, he imagines himself holding a weapon while confronting the city's evils. He looks in the mirror and asks the question that has been repeated thousands of times since 1976:

“You talking to me?”

What in the world does that have to do with preaching and speaking? Why does that line trigger a response? Because it poses a legitimate question: When you speak, to whom are you speaking?

If I am sitting in your audience, it is my hope that you have something to say to me that will either help me, inform me, or both. I don't need glittering generalities scattered across the audience in the hope that some of it falls on me. I want a direct confrontation—a word that smacks me across the brow. I want to be encouraged. I want hope. I need actionable information.

If you say, as many do today, “We need to work harder at this,” then I know you’re not talking about me. That comment must be directed at others because I didn't hear my name. It didn’t make me squirm. But if you say, “You need to work harder at this,” then I am unable to deflect that statement onto another. I must receive it, examine it, and consider my options.

When Jesus addressed the disciples, He never used the word “we.” It was always “you.” When He spoke to the crowds, He personalized His addresses through the pronoun “you.” When you teach, speak, or preach, your message should be “you-centered.” God will speak to each individual in the way He knows is best. You are His instrument to open the minds of the listeners when you move away from “we” and “us” and interject “you.”

So, you ask, “Are you talking to me?”

Yes, I am. I want to refine something as small as a personal pronoun and watch God work as you unleash the amazing message He has placed on your heart. Let me help you.