Hebraic Musing – How to start a meaningful conversation?
Always
be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for
the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15
NIV People argue with
my teachings and even with my preaching; but no one can argue with my
testimony. So I love sharing my
testimony as a powerful witnessing tool.
However, I am concerned that we Christians get
overly involved telling others that “I’m right and you are wrong”. I learned long ago that is not the way
“to make friends and influence people” (Dale Carnegie). Instead, we need to recognize that we are
usually talking to members of a very large segment of our population that has
not (yet) understood the importance of acknowledging God and trying to
understand His Word to us and His plan for all of His creation.
So we find ourselves debating or negotiating from
dramatically differing points of view.
Remember the business principle -- Good negotiation requires
understanding the position of the other party, even to the point of being able
to restate his/her position.
My friend, John R, likes to open conversations by
posing questions like -- "Why is the Devil in opposition to the Kingdom of
God?"; “What are we saved from, and
to, and what is the purpose and the necessity of this change?" I used to ask people “What church do you go
to?” but that can be confrontational and judgmental. So now I ask “Where are you in your spiritual
walk?” That is a non-judgmental conversation starter that actually provides
more information to work from.
These conversations are often triggered by mention
of topics such as homosexuality, abortion, capital punishment or ….. Is the other party approaching the topic(s)
from inside or outside of a Judeo/Christian moral background? If the other person does not understand the
necessity for personal sanctification (lit. "to set apart" for
special use or purpose, to make holy or sacred) there is not a common ground to
support discussion(s) of these topics.
Words like "holiness, sin, righteousness, judgment" have been
largely abandoned. Motivational speakers
who have abandoned those terms can fill stadiums, and get mainstream media
time.
Our challenge is to present the Gospel message
without getting caught up in the “How do you define sin” and other divisive
issues. At the same time, we do not want
to accept contemporary human preferences that conflict with God’s Word.
How to?
Let’s start with your testimony. They
cannot argue with that reality.
Point to ponder
We sing “Go tell it on the
mountain…” but how do we do that?
Are you prepared to give
your personal testimony in a
45 minute, a 3 minute or a 10 second ‘elevator talk’ version?
Have you practiced?
45 minute, a 3 minute or a 10 second ‘elevator talk’ version?
Have you practiced?
with
gentleness and respect
Yosef a.k.a. Joe Brusherd Nov.
12, 2013 (a week and 2 days late, we enjoyed Honduras)
Author of
two books “Hebraic Insights” and “Biblical
Marriage”
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