Share your story, or read one of mine! Whatever the case, “let’s keep it real” as we share our successes and failures in our attempts to engage in spiritual conversations with others. I will insert comments in bold print into the stories from time to time to highlight a point that all might find helpful.
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October 29, 2009 at 6:19 pm
This summer I was invited to speak to the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ out in Fort Collins, CO. On my flight out, I sat next to a young lady in her mid-20′s. We chit chatted about the normal kind of stuff (where do you live, what do you do, etc.) About an hour into our conversation she let her hair down and began to share at a deeper level about her her life’s journey. Her dad was a pastor. She respected him deeply for his Christian example. They were best of friends. However, I found it interesting that she had not embraced the faith of her father. So, I asked her if I could ask her a personal question that was spurred on by this information. (You can never go wrong by asking someone for permission!) She gave me permission to proceed, so I asked her the following question. “I find it interesting that you and your dad are best of friends and that you obviously have a deep respect and admiration for him, I’m wondering what has happened along the way to keep you from embracing his faith?” She immediately began to share some bad experiences with Christian groups on the college campus that had turned her off. I reflected back to her in my words what I thought she had just said. (God’s teeter-totter, chapter 7) I asked her if I could ask her another question. Again, she enthusiastically responded. I said “I’m wondering why you would chuck it all when you have your dad’s glowing example to remind you of what a well lived Christian life could look like.” I then apologized as a representative of the Christian community for the experiences she had in college. (Maybe apologies should be our first apologetic in todays post modern world.) I went on to say that I hoped she would not allow something Jesus followers had wrong to keep her away from seeking Him. She agreed that it didn’t seem fair to write Jesus off because of His follower’s actions. I asked her if she had ever sought to find God for herself. She said she was afraid to do that. I sensitively probed to understand why she was afraid to move towards the One who loves her more than her earthly father. She said, “I’m not sure, I’m going to have to think about that one for awhile.” I asked her if I could share what happened when I searched for God back in college. She was all ears as I shared my faith story. As the plane touched down, she thanked me and told me that she had never talked to anybody about God like this before. She told me that she found our spiritual conversation very enjoyable and inspirational. She went on to tell me why she felt comfortable having the conversation. She attributed it to the kinds of questions I was asking and the kind of listening I was doing. I got off the plane with a “Jesus buzz” on. I was quite ready to speak to the staff of CCC about what happens when we create “God Space” in our day to day encounters. Hearts are connected with and people are encouraged to take their next step toward the heart of Jesus.