Creating God moments, not conversation killers (Part 2)

About this Episode

Creating God moments, not conversation killers (Part 2) is the topic that will be discussed today on RIOT Podcast, a Christian Discipleship Podcast.

This week we are doing another episode of creating God moments and not conversation killers (part 2). Our last Episode 90 was called Creating God moments and not conversation killers. In that show, we discussed that there is no way to create a God moment with someone if we do not fully believe in God ourselves. When they talked about how to get outside the Christian box so people don’t stereotype us immediately.

Next, we talked about how awkward transitions can make it hard for us to create those God moments. Lastly, we talked about how speaking Christianese to people makes no sense to them. We must meet people where they are in order to reach them. Great show, we highly recommend going back and listening to it.

This week we are going to continue that discussion on conversation killers part 2. In order for us to meet people where they are so that they can come to know Jesus as we do, we must be willing to lay down our lives for them while honouring them above ourselves. To do this we must love them with the same love Jesus loves us.

John 15:12-13 “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Romans 12:9-10 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves.

Our first conversation killer is having an agenda in mind before we actually love them.

God-moment conversations cannot take a natural course if we are directing the agenda. 9 out of 10 times if we are leading with an agenda in our minds it will ultimately lead to an awkward moment. Instead, we should ask the person honestly about their kids, find out about their dreams, just find out anything about them and let the spirit lead the conversation. Then the conversation will lead to spiritual things naturally if God is opening up the opportunity. Galatians 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfil the law of Christ.

Spiritual Conversations should be our ultimate motive, not our ulterior motive. Let me say that again, Spiritual Conversations should be our ultimate motive, not our ulterior motive. If we approach our conversations without any agenda and God is opening up opportunities, naturally people will warmly embrace us. If we approach our conversations with an ulterior motive, we will then create an awkward experience and will most likely kill most future conversations people might have with them. Our ultimate motive is to serve them period, without trying to convert them.

James 2:14-17 What good is it, my brothers and sisters if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

How long does it take a person to seize a conversation and dominate it with their worldview? Many ministries have taught their people to treat questions as smoke screens. Each question is deflected so the Christian worker can get back to his or her agenda. Old school evangelism has not worked and it’s caused many people to say no thank you!

Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In our last conversation killer show, we talked about why we should not just play home games but also go to where the people are. We need to go with no agenda, but to have fun knowing that God could use us to speak into someone’s life at any moment.

We have overheard many Pastors say, including ourselves, that if the person we were talking to wanted to talk to us again, they could come to find us at church. What if the Pastor said, “if you want to talk again sometime let’s set up a time and I will come to you anytime, anyplace, just let me know.”

In our culture today most Christians are considered to have negative perceptions. Honestly, we have worked hard to earn this label. They know what we’re against and not what we are for. Our body language, tone of voice, and verbal responses are dead giveaways. The truth is we disagree a lot with what is happening in the world today and the world knows it and they don’t care.

Essentially, we are sending the culture this message: Not only do we not endorse your point of view, but we also don’t accept you. This lack of acceptance crushes opportunities for spiritual conversations.

Many times, not yet Christians will say or do things just to see how we will react. This is often a test to determine whether it’s safe enough for them to engage with us in real conversations. Reacting to things we hear or see comes naturally for most of us. But what we need are the supernatural responses of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control which are the fruit of the Spirit - Galatians 5:22-23.

How many times have we viewed a person as an opponent who must see things from your point of view? Heated debates are not necessary and should be avoided. Dallas Willard once said, “It’s very difficult to be right about something without hurting someone with it.” Eph 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Have you ever been in a conversation in which you felt you couldn’t get a word in edgewise, or that the spotlight never seemed to shift off the person who was talking? They are usually not the person you want to talk to most often. James 1:19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

The secret to being interested in a conversation is to be interested. Philippians 2:4 encourages us to look not only to our own interests but also to the interest of others.