Several years ago I was discussing faith sharing with a friend of mine. This friend grew up in the church and lived, as he would have called it, the typical Christian life. When I asked if he had ever shared his faith story he responded that he had no story to tell. No story to tell? How could anyone walking in faith with Jesus not have a story to tell? What my friend was conveying is a response that I believe a lot of Christians have given. I too used to believe I had no story to tell.
As we begin to uncover some practical tools to help us make discipleship and evangelism a core part of our DNA it is helpful to begin with recapturing the vision of our own story. Many of us who have been followers of Jesus for a long time have forgotten the power of our own narrative in Christ. And we sometimes convince ourselves that our stories have nothing special to tell. I remember listening to people tell their stories in youth group or in college and I would be overwhelmed with the power of God to overcome some of the darkest moments in a person's history. But I would also feel a little let down because my story was not filled with such dramatic life changing moments as the ones I had heard. Have you ever felt that way? Like everyone else has a better story to tell than you? Then perhaps it is time to recapture the vision of your story.
The truth is everyone has a beautiful story to tell. Jesus doesn't reserve his love for those whose stories will prove best in our culture. And when we begin to follow Jesus our stories are no longer about us. They become a reflection of Jesus' story. A story of resurrection and life. And that is a story worth being told.
If we do not have a deep sense of our own story in Jesus then the previous posts make little difference. However, a clear vision of the power of Jesus' story working in us will drive us into God's mission for his world.
How then do we begin to engage our world, our cities, our communities, with the story of Jesus? It would be easy to just give a list of things to do or say to try and help you become better at sharing your faith story and discipling others. However, I do not know every person's natural rhythm and context and therefore a list would not be very helpful. Instead I want to give a few tools that will help you explore ways to engage the people you interact with in your natural rhythm.
1. Intentionality rules the day. In my previous post I discussed that many of us allow our rhythms to pass by without actively engaging them. We walk through our day, moving from one thing to the next, without intentionally looking at what doors God has placed in those rhythms. There are three ways we can become more intentional in our natural rhythm.
1. Intentionally Create Relationships: Think about how many people you see on a regular basis that you have never talked to, asked their name, waved high to, etc. Let's commit to intentionally creating relationships with the people who are moving with us in our natural rhythms (the barista at your local starbucks, the cashier at your grocery store, your landlord, your neighbor...). Begin creating a habit of introducing yourself to the people you see in your natural rhythm. Commit to meeting 8 new people this week simply to learn their names.
2. Have Intentional Conversations: How many relationships do you have where all you discuss is the weather? Do you have friends and know nothing about their story? It is important to listen to people's story. Everyone has a beautiful story they are dying to tell. Will we be the kind of people that go to them and listen? Hearing people's stories begins with creating Intentional Conversation. One way of creating intentional conversations is by asking three types of questions: Polite questions, Interest Questions and Caring Questions. Polite questions are simple introductory questions such as, "How are you?" They initiate discussion. Interest questions take conversations a step further. They are questions such as "do you shop here often." This will help lower people's defenses and allow for safety in the conversation. The Caring Question shows that you care and are interested in hearing their story. It could be something like, "What can I pray about for you?"
3. Intentionally Disciple Others: We sometimes believe that discipleship will happen if a relationship is deep enough. We are too often content with allowing discipleship to happen accidentally. However, we should learn to intentionally take people deeper into the heart of God. Intentional discipleship is key to helping people truly transform into the image of Christ. It could be as simple as beginning a Bible Study with a person or as intimate as taking a person on a spiritual retreat or mission trip. However, the key is that it is planned, intentional and is leading somewhere specific.
2. 10 Second Rule. The 10 Second Rule is a book by Clare De Graaf in which he describes how most Kingdom decisions are made in a 10 second window. We drive by someone broken down on the side of the road or contemplate whether or not to share our story with a co-worker. If we do not make a decision to engage our natural rhythms in 10 seconds then we will typically allow the moment to pass us by. God is an expert at opening doors to us. Sometimes those doors remain open for long periods of time. However, many times those doors are open only briefly and it is up to us to decide if we will engage them. The 10 Second rule is not hard and fast, however, it allows us to engage our natural rhythms in a more intentional way. The next time you see someone broken down on the side of the road or the next time you are out with a co-worker, will you choose to use those moments to impact the Kingdom of God?
3. What do we have, Who do we know, How can we Help. Dave Clayton gave this as a challenge in a sermon a few weeks back and it has stuck with me ever since. It is a simple way of viewing your natural rhythms. It asks the question, "Do we have something to offer the people around us?" This question is answered both spiritually and physically/emotionally. What about our story can we offer the people around us? Are the needs of our neighbors spiritual or physical? When we begin to actively engage the people in our natural rhythms we begin to unveil the needs that are present. We learn that our neighbor just lost their grandparent or that the lady at the grocery store has been burned by church in her past. As we learn about the needs of those around us we can begin to ask the important question, "what do I have to offer that person?" Do these people need a home cooked meal? Do they need encouragement? Do we have these things to offer people? Let's become intentional about learning about the needs of the people around us so we can make the decision to engage those needs in a way that will show the Love Jesus has for them.
What other ways can we begin to engage our natural rhythms? How else might we develop the disciplines of evangelism and discipleship so that they become a part of our DNA? The three tools mentioned above are not the only ones out there. They are not hard and fast, however, they are meant to help us creatively engage the world around us. But even these tools will be meaningless unless we recapture the vision of our own story. We all have a beautiful story to tell. Now is the time to tell it.
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