Everyday Spiritual Conversations (Week 3) – CONVERSE, DON’T CONFRONT!

What ought to motivate us in sharing with others, is the reality that God’s heart is for the lost. God so loved the world, he wants all men to be saved, “it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)

Most if not all people in our nation are spiritual. The facts that (a) God has set eternity in the hearts of all mankind, and (b) he is willing that none should perish but that all would come to everlasting life, and (c) he has provided a pathway for those who choose it, suggests all people are spiritual.

But we’re in a spiritual battle, aren’t we? We’re also in a moral battle. A truth battle. These are all intertwined. But we pray. We pray his kingdom come, his will be done. We pray God equip us in this battle. We pray for the salvation of our community. God says ‘you are the light, the salt, the feet that brings good news’. So yes a battle, but we are torch bearers of truth.

Conversation without confrontation is an especially important skill for our witnessing, because we want to be able to engage in open conversations, without awkwardness, or leave people ‘preached at’ or ‘targeted’.

The Bible says: ‘Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks’ (Luke 6:45). In other words – the key to creating the feel of conversation – rather than of a ‘confrontation’ – is in the motive of our hearts, which then expresses itself in the tone of our word! Because we do want people to consider and accept the Christian faith right, that is one of our motives!

The motive enables a feeling of conversation vs confrontation. We come to conversations with selfless interest, with a motive to encourage and care. If this is genuinely our motive, even in situations where there is disagreement, people should have no reason to feel threatened.

You may be surprised how much it can turn these tense conversations into relaxed ones, and we will find that conversations about spiritual things are possible with almost everyone!