So, what did you do over the weekend?

As Christians, we are all looking for that "hook" to start a spiritual conversation about Christ. Whether we follow the Way of the Master line of reasoning where we point out to people that they are murdering, adulterous liars and then show them the fire of hell and tell them to repent or we take the inquisitive approach and ask, "If you were to die today....", we must start somewhere. Paul began talking about philosophy, Judaism and nature and ended up with Christ.

Let me present another option in the menagerie of ideas.

ON MONDAY, ask someone,
"So, what did you do this weekend?" and the dialogue might go something like this

--based on age and culture--"I played golf, X-Box, watched TV, Knitted, drank till I passed out or whatever, so, what did you do this weekend?".

"Really, well I played golf as well, X-box, TV, knitted, (hopefully not passed out drunk) went to an awesome party, AND I went to church"

"Oh, you go to church?"

"Yep, I go to ___________ church. Do you go to church anywhere?"

"No, not really. If I ever go, I go on Easter and Christmas."

"That's cool, what do you think about God?"

And then your conversation can hopefully begin and you tell them the truth about how Jesus through His life, death, burial and resurrection is
Prophet--points out sin and calls you to repentance
Priest--gives you grace and loves and helps you
King--he should rule and reign in our hearts

Now this is all assuming this happens perfectly and in order and they follow the rules. :)

That won't always happen and so we can go confidently into our conversations knowing that God draws people to himself and we are only a conduit to share His Good News and let Him do His work.

Hopefully, we can season every conversation with a little salt and not just try to start some hokey sales pitch of our product. There is a time for everything though and we must be sensitive to the Spirit at all times and inject truth with whomever we talk with.

I had a wonderful opportunity this morning with my 5 year old son. We were listening to my sports talk radio heroes, Mike and Mike. My son knows them by name and can recognize them from their ESPN2 morning show. Anyway, they were talking with Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL. He mentioned how "getting kids involved in sports is the most important thing we could do." I shut it off and asked Jack if he agreed with that guy on the radio. He didn't know what I meant, so I repeated what he said and then Jack told me that the guy was wrong. I asked him what was the most important thing. He answered, "Jesus, because He created everything and He died on the cross for our sins." What better answer could a guy want from his kid. I pray that it is not a conditioned response, but something that God is forming in his heart and mind and continues to be the most important thing in his life.

P.S. don't tell anyone, but Jack loves sports too and all he can think about nowadays is going to T-Ball practice. :)

Marinade on this a while...