To sandbag your Christmas party guests is to unexpectedly thrust your guests into a socially awkward or highly uncomfortable situation where they are unable to escape, metaphorically speaking.

How we were sandbagged

This happened to us on a Disney vacation, but the same could happen at your evangelistic Christmas party if you are not careful

The offer: We were offered two free park tickets if we attended a continental breakfast.

The hidden agenda: We had to endure a 3 hour presentation on timeshares.  We couldn’t leave.

The result: Highly frustrated sales people, angry customers, and us feeling trapped and victimized.

How to mess up a Christmas Party

Some Christians plan Christmas parties with a hidden agenda.

They invite their friends and neighbors and then sandbag their guests with an unexpected lecture on Jesus.

The food and friendship is all going well.  People are relating and connecting.

Then the host gathers people into a room and starts to lecture them on the need for Jesus.

It’s out of the blue and unexpected.

Some guests are thinking “Is this why I’m here, to be told I need Jesus?”

Is there a better way to do evangelism at a Christmas party?

One way to avoid this situation is to be clear in your invitations to the Christmas party.  Set an expectation ahead of time:

Mention that you’ll be sharing a little about your faith and why Christmas is important to you.  Be clear that it’s a personal story and that it will be brief.

This sets an expectation in the mind of your Christmas party guest that there will be some no-pressure faith sharing happening.

You might have some ice-breakers that touch on spiritual themes (next post).

You might have people share meaningful Christmas traditions.

You might share one short aspect of your testimony when you have the group’s attention (after all, you said you would in your Christmas party invitations).

When it’s time to speak to your group, gather them around you with

“As I mentioned in the invitation to each of you, I wanted to take a few moments to share why Christmas is important to us.  I won’t too share much, and I won’t put pressure on any of you, but I simply want to share how my life is different because of Jesus.”

Then share a piece of your personal testimony.

Invite those who want to know more to talk with you one on one after your presentation as the party resumes.

This low key approach still accomplishes some evangelistic activity of sharing some of the gospel and some of your personal testimony.  The key is that it was expected at the Christmas party because you mentioned it in your invitation.

Do you need church Christmas Party Game Ideas?

Read my review of a resource of Christmas party games, some of which have spiritual conversation starters.

• Christmas Party Icebreaker to Start Spiritual Conversations
• Creative Youth Group Game Ideas for Christmas

When we make it a human work, we

• feel pressure to get a decision.
• feel unprepared to handle every possible objection.
• feel insecure in presenting what we personally know about Jesus.

Rather, Evangelism is the work of the Holy Spirit.  But even with that in mind, we are prone to errors.

Top 3 mistakes in personal evangelism

1.  Failure to pray

Prayer prepares your heart, and God uses prayer to draw people to Christ.  Evangelism is ultimately a spiritual work.

Perhaps you can create a prayer list to help you with that?

Action step: Make a prayer list of friends.

When was the last time you prayed through your list of friends?

See Also:

• Ten Prayer Points For your Friends
• Prayer and Evangelism
• Three Verses on Prayer (in a book review article)
• Take the Risk, Offer to Pray.
• Prayer and Evangelism (Acronym to lead your prayer)
• HEART.
• Evangelism PAINS
• Prayer Strategy for Personal Evangelism (PODCAST)

2.  Spend zero time with non-Christians

Most effective evangelism happens between friends.

But many of us have been Christians for so long that we have few if any non-Christian Friends.

Thus, one highly effective habit to be intentional in building deep and authentic relationships.

As you look over your list of friends you are praying for, who do you need to “get to know better” or “spend some time with” this coming week?

Related Article: Spheres of Influence

3.  Control the conversation

This one is huge.

There are evangelistic methods where the evangelist controls the conversation through leading questions.

Others require the evangelist to steer the conversation from the mundane to the spiritual in a few short steps.

I watched one evangelist talk about the credibility of the bible, when it was clear that wasn’t a question in the mind of the listenener.

Instead, listen for spiritual thirst.

Spiritual Thirst opens conversational doors.

Good questions will open the door to great conversation, rather than leading the conversation down a defined path.

Read:

• 5 Great Spiritual Conversation Questions
• Resource: 52 Questions for Bible Teachers
• 44 Spiritual Conversation Starter Questions
• 20 Evangelism Questions To Start a Conversation
• Evangelistic Conversation Starter Questions

Personal Evangelism Coaching:

If you would like personalized help in personal evangelism over the next 60 days, I provide a telecoaching service of four phone calls over a 60 day period.

Read more about it here:  Personal Coaching for Personal Evangelism

Perhaps you’ve spent time sharing your faith (maybe a few years) by

• Developing authentic relationships with non-believers
• Faith sharing conversations over dinner
• Answering difficult questions

Yet, they never seem to get the faith you share with them.

Years of faith sharing with little results

Some of you probably have encountered this.

I know I have.

There are people in my life that no matter how much I share my faith, they remain apart from Christ.

As an evangelist, that’s hard.

I remember one person with whom I shared my faith with for four years.  Nothing.

Apostle Paul shared his faith with the same person for two years!

At the end of Acts 23, the apostle Paul was sent to Felix, the governor. Felix had Paul guarded in Herod’s palace (Acts 23: 35) until he had the chance to hear Paul himself (Acts 24).

After the hearing, Felix gave Paul some ”freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs” (24:23)

Felix had some level of spiritual curiosity, and some working knowledge about the followers of Jesus (Acts 24:22), even if it was only on a political level as the movement of Christianity spread.

Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. (v24)

Paul and Felix discussed Jesus and what it means to follow Jesus.

 25 As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.”

I can imagine that Felix even experienced the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in some of those conversations.  Even if there were some hidden motives for hearing Paul (like bribery – v. 26), Felix still got to hear of Jesus and the implications of being a disciple of Christ.

These faith sharing conversations went on for the next two years (v.27).

Even though Paul was a prisoner, it’s hard not to imagine that a friendship developed, or at least a level of mutual respect between these two men as Paul shared his faith.

We can speculate some of the relationship dynamics that changed over the course of the next two years.

Two years of faith sharing, no immediate fruit

I can imagine (and this is santicified imagination) Paul doing the following

• Praying for Felix on a regular basis.
• Asking God for how to talk with Felix.
• Waiting for God to open the heart of Felix to respond.
• Frustration when Felix cuts the conversation short when it gets personal.
• Rejoicing when questions were answered to the satisfaction of Felix
• Celebrating the apparent progress Felix was making on the journey to faith.

Yet Felix was appointed somewhere else and was no longer in Paul’s life.  The end of the road together had come.

Two years, Felix and Paul talked about Christianity, salvation, following Jesus, etc, yet Felix still walked away without having surrendered his life to Christ.  I would imagine author Luke would have reported on Felix’s conversion if it had happened.

Sharing faith without results?

Perhaps you are in a similar situation of sharing your faith with someone who seems to have spiritual curiosity, but just won’t surrender.

Like Felix, they keep cutting the faith conversation short when it gets personal.

They simply avoid the hard questions of surrender.

What can we do?

1.  Don’t give up.

Keep praying for your friend.

Keep spending time with them.

Enjoy life together.

Keep sharing your faith and answering their questions.  They are on a spiritual journey

They are your friend, not your evangelistic project, so keep the relationship authentic.

2.  Trust God’s sovereignty.

I’ve heard testimony from people who have come to faith 15 years after I shared with them.

Remember the friend I shared my faith with for nearly 4 years without success?

Fifteen years later, she tells me she became a Christian.  Those seeds I planted produced a harvest.

God can keep the story going, even if you are no longer in the picture.

I’ve had deeply personal conversations with strangers, and have led strangers to Christ.

But those conversations were the results of months of spiritual preparation by their friends who were already speaking into their life – I just happened to be a confirming piece of information they were looking for.

Statistics in various studies have shown that the verbal and life witness seen through personal relationships with genuine Christians are what lead new believers.

For example, in Shawn Anderson’s nationwide study in the US (in (Living Dangerously: Seven Keys to Intentional Discipleship), writes

The results revealed that, indeed, individuals were influenced to commit their lives to Jesus by people who modeled Jesus in their lives.

4 Reasons that Relationship Evangelism Works.

As I thought about this, here are 4 reasons why relationships are important in personal evangelism.

1. You’ve got credibility.

From reading unChristian, the Church as an institution doesn’t have a lot of credibility. Your friend might even have a crazy relative or obnoxious friend who is always forcing a Jesus-conversation upon them.

For your friend to become a Christian, they need a credible witness: someone who is normal.

Your friend trusts you and your ideas, even if they don’t agree with you. You’ve built respect in your relationship and that fosters the positive credibility to be a person of influence.

Growth step: In which relationships with non-Christians do you need to improve credibility? What can you do this week to change that?

2. You’ve got visibility.

Over time, people can see what defines your life. Your interests, hobbies, and choices, plus how you respond to circumstances, are visible to your friend.

For example, with my friends, I can talk about

• my calling,
• how I experience God’s provision for our work
• what I’m learning from my devotional life with God.
• how God is at work in the life of our church as people find faith
• knowing the presence of God’s peace in the midst of our challenges.

They see that I choose

• Giving $$ to mission projects that advance the gospel.
• Going to church over cutting the yard on a beautiful Sunday
• Godly ways I raise my children as I get wisdom from God’s word.
• Giving vacation time to foreign missions with my family instead of a week at the beach.

I am comfortable in expressing the spiritual side of my life: my walk with Christ. People hear that I walk with God. They hear current stories of what God is doing in my life.

Growth Step: Can you talk about your spiritual life with Christ? What story God’s activity in your life can you share with a friend?

3. You’ve got accessibility.

When strangers interrupt our life with some agenda they are pushing, we are naturally defensive.

But in your relationships, you’ve got access to speak to deep places.

You’ve got access to hearing their needs, hopes, desires and struggles. They call on you when life throws them a curve ball.

They might share with you how they face financial ruin.

They might share with you how they are headed towards divorce.

In the safety of credible relationships, you’ve got access to their deepest needs when they come to the surface. You’ve got access when they start to talk about their spiritual thirst.

Very rarely will a stranger get that level of access.

Growth Step: What steps can you take this week to deepen your relationships with non-Christians?

4. You’ve got “speakability”.

Within the safety of a trusted relationship you have earned the right to speak freely about faith.   You’ll have earned the right to speak about your friend’s faith.

You’ll have earned the right to speak to their spiritual thirst when you hear it.

And this conversation may not be just at one time, but over the course of several conversations spread out over time.

The people that I have most influenced for the kingdom of God are people who allowed me to speak into their life over a season of time.

I’ve been able to ask about their beliefs, talk intelligently about them, and even disagree without being obnoxious about it.

Growth step: Have you heard your friend speak about their spiritual restlessness?  Pray that the Lord gives you a chance to speak into that.

Pentecost is the time where we remember when and how the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church.

The fruit of that day is seen:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. – Acts 1:8 (NIV)

Pero cuando venga el Espíritu Santo sobre ustedes, recibirán poder y serán mis testigos tanto en Jerusalén como en toda Judea y Samaria, y hasta los confines de la tierra. – Hechos 1:8 (NVI)

This empowerment for missions enables us to fulfill our calling and purpose, whether it is to our local area or in another country.

An open door:

Last October, a fellow member of PRMI, received a personal invitation to teach on the person and work of the Holy Spirit to a group of Presbyterian pastors in Guatemala. That created a spiritual thirst to know more:

• What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit?
• How can the gifts help me grow my church?
• How can I help people discover their gifts?

Now, we have received an invitation to return and give about 8 hours worth of additional teaching and training on the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Through our connections with PRMI, we have the opportunity to share some of the foundational teaching that we has been shared around the world.

These pastors, who may not have access to seminary trained pastors as teachers, will hear from the 3-4 pastors on our team, and then be empowered to use this information in their local congregations.

Much confusion exists about the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the evangelical church in Latin America.

I see it myself as I’ve been in 9 different countries. The person and work of the Holy Spirit has been subjected to abuses, misinformed teaching, and all sorts of strange interpretations (I’ve got tons of stories). Because there is often a lack of sound biblical resources, it’s easy for confusion, hurt, and pain to happen.

We have been invited to help bring a biblical perspective, and a solid one that is rooted in the Reformed Stream of the Western Church. The material we use makes so much use of scriptures that some of our manuals are over 1 inch thick.

These pastors are looking to us to provide solid, rational, biblical training to help interpret and balance some of the experiences that they have had.

Imagine Guatemalan Presbyterian pastors full of the Holy Spirit, sound doctrine, praying for others to receive this empowering work of the Holy Spirit to reach their own harvest fields!

We get to play a part!

Details

This retreat will be geared for pastors and their spouses at a retreat center outside of Guatemala city.

August 18-20, 2009.

Additional preaching opportunities and connections with Vida Joven Guatemala will likely occur, building on our relationship with Vida Joven Nicaragua.

Support:

The team is raising support for the trip to cover our international airfares and some translation costs to prepare and ship materials.

Donations to the team through PRMI can be marked “Latin American Missions.”

Donate online here. You will need to create an account since Paypal is not yet available to them.

Checks via US Mail,
Payable:PRMI
Marked : Latin American Mission,
PRMI
P.O.Box 429
Black Mountain NC 28711

From the back cover:

“a book about breaking free from a spiritually weak life to achieve the consistently powerful one that is available to every believer.

It’s a Bible Study 101 that guides reader to a greater revelation of God.”

Summary of Beyond Belief

The 66-page book is a simple explanation of basic Christian belief and it’s relevance to life today.  The chapters are short, with related Scriptures listed at the end of each.

It uses the basic gospel script of the sharing the Law and then the Gospel.

It covers other basic points such as the authority of Scripture, sovereignty of God, the person and work of the Holy Spirit, prayer, and so forth.

His goal within each chapter seems to want to build a case that the best spiritual life is one centered in a relationship with Christ.

In Chapter 9, he offers a roadmap on how to begin your spiritual life by inviting Christ into your heart.

Yielding to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, available only to those who have received Christ as Savior and Lord, will change your life today, not just for eternity.

Chapter 1 is available for free online at Beyond Belief Book.

My take on Beyond Belief

Worldview Assumptions in Beyond Belief

The book can be used as a primer or a review in your basic discipleship work.    It assumes the reader has a biblical worldview and agrees with the authoritativeness of Scripture.

As a tool to use in evangelism, the biggest challenge will be the book’s generous use of Scripture.  The assumption of biblical authority runs through the text.

If the seeker reading the book doesn’t yet share that foundation of biblical authority, the proofs offered in the book may seem circular or insufficient.

They might say –- “the bible says it, ok.  So what?”

(Read about handing biblical illiteracy here under the header Seeds already planted)

To use Beyond Belief as a pre-Christian evangelism tool in small groups, the small group leader should be aware of how to handle alternative worldviews and help the seekers discover biblical authority.

Exclusivity of the Gospel in Beyond Belief

I appreciated the simplicity of how he treats the exclusivity of the gospel, and how he affirms that Jesus is the only way to salvation.   I share that belief so I had no problem with it’s presentation.

For my readers who don’t share that viewpoint, this book may seem too fundamentalist to your liking.

Overall reaction to McElroy’s Beyond Belief

The book is simple, short, and can likely be read in one sitting.

As a small group resource, I can see where it can be useful for those who grew up in a church and left and are reaching a season in their life where they are returning to their Christian roots, where there are still seeds of respect for Biblical authority.

Order your copy of Beyond Belief direct from Amazon.

Buy through the link and we’ll receive a few pennies commission to support our work.

He connected with the local people

When he came to the town, “he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla,” (18:2).  Paul went to see them, and “because he was a tent maker as they were, he stayed and worked with them” (v.3)

Here is an example of relationship building.  They had something in common – tent making, and that formed the basis of their relationship.  They were local, even though they were transplants from another city.

At this point in the story, we do not know if Aquila and/or Priscilla are believers.  We know that eventually they are, because of their role in discipling Apollos when they all meet him for the first time in Ephesus.

I recalled reading about the Luke 10 principles from The Rabbit and the Elephant (see review of The Rabbit and the Elephant).  There, the authors remind us of how Jesus sent out the people ahead of him, to find the “person of peace” and to stay with that person.  We see this pattern in Paul’s work here in Athens.  Aquila and Priscilla were those persons of peace.”

He worked among them

While staying at the house of Aquila and Priscilla, Paul used that as a base for his outreach every Sabbath.  Verse 4 reads “Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.”

During the rest of the week, Paul was likely making his tents and setting up his business.  Costs were likely low as his lodging was covered, and he wasn’t supporting a family.

He devoted himself full time

Verse 5 reads: “When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching.”  This suggests some possible growth in Paul’s business – either

• Paul had made enough funds from selling tents that he was free, or
• Silas and Timothy took over business operations, or
• Business had grown to the point where a manager was in charge, or
• Aquila and Priscilla were running the business to support Paul (All three go to Ephesus).

Once they arrived, Paul was able to devote himself full time to the ministry of teaching.  As was his pattern, first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles.  Verse 6 shows his opposition from the Jews, so he setup his teaching base next door.

Paul’s fear

Paul was busy doing good work.  Building relationships, conversing with people, and doing the basics of evangelistic work.  Yet even he was afraid of those who mocked, ridiculed, and opposed him.

The Lord gave Paul a vision one night: “Do not be afraid.”  At first, I thought this was the common greeting of angelic visitors, but as I peered into first Corinthians, I read “I came to you in weakness and with much trembling” (1 Cor 2:3).

Then there is guidance: “For I am with you, . . . .because I have many people in this city.”

Elijah had a similar fear – when he thought he was the only one – the Lord reminded him that there were others.

When one faces that kind of fear in personal evangelism, it can be emotionally draining.  When one thinks of all the other fears that hinder personal evangelism, we have this reminder that Paul faced similar fears.

How did the Lord comfort him?

“keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you”

In other words, God reminded Paul of his presence, and the presence of others in that city who could help him.

If you are a church planter, perhaps one prayer could be “Lord, where are the other people in this city who are called to help us?”

The question that stirs in my mind – what are my fears?

Planting Churches

This missionary work wasn’t setup and funded overnight.

In this case, Paul lives among his initial contacts in Corinth and then sets up and runs his business.  He grows it to the point where he can hand it off, likely using the proceeds to fund his own church planting or missionary activity.

In receiving comfort from God about his fear in the face of rejection, he likely begins to pray, “Lord, where are the other people.”  We see that new relationships develop in the next 18 months while Paul remains:

• Titius Justus, a worshipper of God.
• Crispus, the synagogue ruler and his household.
• Sostehenes, the next synagogue ruler (v.17), who helped write 1 Corinthians (1:1)
• Cloe’s household (1 Cor 1:11)

We can see how the Lord answered Paul’s prayer.

Why are church hospitality committees looking to improve their hospitality ministry in their church by buying my book?

• Fear that a visitor to their church will come a few times and still not feel welcome.
• Fear that a church visitor will be overlooked.
• Fear that a first time church visitors will not welcomed because of the actions of untrained church greeters.
• Fear that their church greeters will be too overzealous and drive visitors away.

Readers find that these fears are calmed somewhat by this practical “how to book.”

In it they find over 60 practical hospitality ideas for new church visitors and how to organize their church hospitality.

Results not guaranteed

You might be thinking – If I buy your book, will I see results?  Yes, but with qualification.

The risk is assuming that the church hospitality ideas found inside this book are a formula that will guarantee the results.

“If I perfect the system, I’ll get the results. .. ”

That’s flawed thinking.

This thinking might work for weight loss, making money on line or fixing your golf swing, but not building your church.

Church’s come in different sizes, shapes, local cultures, and different theological traditions.

Hospitality ideas in the church may works in one place, but the same church hospitality idea may not work in another context.

For example, a personal visit to the home of a first time visitor that Sunday afternoon, unannounced, may still work in some places, but would be considered intrusive in others.

Identifying visitors by making them stand up, wear a visitor badge, or sign a guest book might work in some places, but fail miserably in others.  (By the way, I don’t recommend any of these ideas).

The point is, technique doesn’t automatically build relationship.

The goal is relationship.

The goal of your church hospitality ministry is to facilitate emotional and relational connections with the church family.

The goal of your greeting ministry is to remove easy barriers to making that happen.

Hospitality ministries are one of many pieces – ministry events, small groups, etc — to help that process happen.

Techniques help, but if your congregation isn’t truly friendly to your guests, you still won’t get the result you are looking for — growth.

Think of the goal first.

Then work backwards and ask yourself –

• Does this hospitality practice help or hinder that goal?
• What additional practices can we do to facilitate relational connections with the congregation?

Order your copy of How to Welcome Church Visitors.

The challenger warned me that I could only reach so many people, but if I delegated and empowered, I could lead larger ministries with longer reaches and greater sustainability.  The challenger mentioned that my personal limit of people I could effectively influence was likely around 120-150.  If I could influence leaders, the ministry could grow beyond my personal limits.

One blog I read (ChrisBrogan.com) shares the source behind the social limit of real relationships that a person can maintain.

There’s a theory called Dunbar’s Number that suggests there’s an upper limit to the amount of relationships we can maintain. If you’re interested in networking, this should be an issue. That number, for the record, is 150. 

Source: Beating Dunbars Number | chrisbrogan.com.

Implications for pastors

I know of a church plant that started about nearly 10 years ago.  I checked in on it recently, and the pastor reports that it has plateaued about 125-135 people for the past five years and that the turnover rate is about 45% each year.

New people come in, other people leave after about a year or two.  The net effect is that the congregation has remained numerically stable.

This church is a single pastorate, and the pastor has a leadership style where his hand is in everything.

Pastor sets the direction (with a board of government), pastor runs the small groups, pastor runs the worship service and no ministry gets started without the pastor’s initiative.  Recently pastor split up the small groups into different areas, but he still maintains a pretty tight involvement with the leaders.

Pastor lovingly leads it all.  There is joy in the congregation, no complaints, and for this church this type of leadership functions.  It’s not a dictatorship and pastor is not a control freak.  He gets joy out of being involved.

Now, before you agree with me that this is

• Not healthy, or
• A recipe for burnout or
• Effective in a small church, or
• Leadership style that hinders further growth

let me connect it to the point.

1.  The church will not grow any larger.

If Dunbar’s number holds true, the limit of a single pastor who feels the need to be involved in everything will be about 150.  It seems to me that the congregation has reached the practical end of its growth unless the pastor gives and empowers leadership to raise up their own networks.

2.  Leaders leave because they can’t serve or lead.

This church leadership model does not delegate and empower leadership of other ministry.   It doesn’t effectively raise up others to lead their own network of 150.  Not having a place to serve or contribute their gifts, after a while solid believers leave for a place where they can serve.

This particular congregation is at a moment of stage of church growth.  If it wants to continue its dream of fulfilling its particular calling, one thing that must change is the leadership style.

Implications for Church Planting

I know it’s not as simple as waving a wand to make a solution, but if you are wondering why your church isn’t growing — perhaps you’ve maxed out the social limit of your leaders?

How much leadership can you give away to trusted and respected leaders?

With regards to evangelism training in your church’s DNA, is the pastor in charge of it all, or is that delegated as well to empowered leaders?

One church planting coach that I have gotten to know uses Jethro’s advice to Moses — delegate and empower.  Put people in charges of 50s, 100s, and 1000s.

Implications for Church Visitor Retention Rates

There are practical implications here as well to keeping church visitors in your midst.

In the church I describe, the back door is as big as the front door.

People come and perhaps stay connected for a little while, but without the empowerment to lead and serve in ministries, they may likely take their gifting elsewhere where they are needed.

Your church is working hard at retaining visitors and building connections, but the leadership DNA won’t let it grow.

Coaching corner:

Could this issue — 150 people per pastor — be part of the reason?   Take a look and think about it for a while.

]]> http://www.evangelismcoach.org/2009/beating-dunbars-number/feed/ 7 http://www.evangelismcoach.org/2009/the-art-of-noticing-people/ http://www.evangelismcoach.org/2009/the-art-of-noticing-people/#comments Tue, 05 May 2009 09:22:25 +0000 EvangelismCoach http://www.evangelismcoach.org/?p=2006 A moment with strangers

Have you ever been with a group of people and felt like you just needed to talk to that person over there?

A sense that God was pointing out that particular person?

Phillip (in the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch) was prompted to “Go Stand next to THAT chariot.”

Of all the chariots on the road that day, he was prompted to go next to one.

A moment with Friends

Maybe been with a friend, visiting in the coffee shop, and you have this unmistakable sense that they want to talk with you about their faith or yours?

Or maybe a friend has surprised you and started opening up about their faith struggle and search for God?

What are these moments?

These moments have the potential to become kairos moments, moments where we as Christians are aware of the gentle prompting of the Holy Spirit to pay attention and likely talk about faith.

The are moments that are full of possibilities for a persons spiritual journey towards Christ, where the person who are talking with may make more steps closer in their relationship with Jesus.

Some might call these divine appointments.

I call them kairos moments.

Here are some examples:

• God’s presence is with us. – My tutor hears the gospel
• Seminar Testimony – a wrong phone number
• Is he a PC USA Pastor? – Divine moment in Cracker Barrel
• What is an Evangelist? – Student wants a definition
• Reflections from Enfield CT – Wal-Mart Stories
• Evangelism Motives: Why bother? – taxi driver shares Jesus

Each conversation moment has been prepared and thanks to the working of the Holy Spirit another person makes another step forward towards discovering their relationship with Christ.

Some people search for God

Luke 19:1-10, the familiar story of Zacchaeus shows that noticing people and these divine appointments turns out to be more art than science.

Verse one says; “Jesus entered and walked through Jericho.”

Luke transitions from story to story with phrases letting you know that Christ was on the move.

On this particular day he came across a shunned tax collector named Zacchaeus whom we would place in the category of lost.

Nevertheless, verse 3 says that Zacchaeus “wanted desperately to see Jesus” (The Message).

The Greek rendering of the word “desperately” is zateo.

Zateo carries with it a meaning of a frantic pursuit. This is a very dramatic and passionate verb that Luke uses.

If you lost your child in a crowded public space, “zateo” describes the desperate search.

If your passport is missing the night before your international flight, zateo is the word to express the intensity of searching.

Do we believe that some people zateo Jesus?

They have been prepared and are so full of spiritual thirst they will do anything to find the water of life?

Jesus looks for them, rewarding their search.

Here’s what’s remarkable about Jesus. As he’s traveling along, he comes upon an ordinary tree and then does something extraordinary; he stops and notices! Jesus is busy, the religious crowd wants his attention and yet he stops and stares up at a tree. Go figure!

With all the travel language in the book of Luke, when Jesus stops it’s a big deal. What really happened at that tree could not be seen, the beauty is in the unseen.

When Jesus stopped at the tree of Zacchaeus, he ascribed worth to him and said that Zacchaeus mattered.

This was Jesus’ paradigm for letting people know that he cared about them—he stopped and noticed them. It wasn’t what Jesus said that was so compelling but what he did. In the economy of Jesus, Zaccheus had high value.

Others may grumble because you don’t do it right.

Verse 7 says, “Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, ‘What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?’ ”

Jesus was not playing the part correctly.

He was supposed to let Zacchaeus know how much he didn’t approve of his sin and share “the gospel” with him, which starts with an explanation of his failures.

Instead, Jesus stopped, noticed, called him by name and had a conversation with him on his turf.

The story ends with Jesus making this statement, “For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.”

The Greek verb that is translated ‘find and restore’ is none other than zateo.

The art of Noticing People

Apparently, Jesus is passionately pursuing the people formerly known as lost. Pursuing Jesus was his business, his passion, his reason for existence.

Jesus profoundly impacted Zacchaeus not by sharing good news with him, but by being good news to him on that day. He stopped and noticed.

If we want to be on mission with Jesus, we’ll need to relearn the lost art of noticing.

Some of those conversations will go deep.

Some of those conversations that happen will go deep.  Others will remain shallow.

I have experienced lots of moments where after noticing people as in the Zaccheus text, the opportunity to offer a piece of the gospel happens.

Sometimes I get to harvest what others have sown, other times I get to water what was already there.  Sometimes I get to plant a seed for the first time.

It all starts with noticing those promptings of the Holy Spirit.

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