Spiritual Conversations

Gary Rohrmayer adds another post on spiritual conversations (I already linked to the 3 by 5 rule).  His four points so far have been...

1. Make it a priority (3x5 rule)

If leaders are going to be serious about connecting with people they need to uncover at least 5 new contacts a day, equaling about 35 a week, which will lead to 3 "sit-downs" for a meaningful conversation.

2. Pray for opportunities

I remember praying one morning, “Lord, it has been a while time since I led someone to you. Open the doors and show me who I need to speak to today.”

3. Get out and into your community

I encourage church planters to think about tithing their time to community service and interaction.

4. Establish routines and cultivate relationships

I encourage leaders to establish routines and patterns so that you build relational presence with business owners and servers.

Gary concludes...

I learned a simple lesson over twenty-five years ago from an old missionary who said these words to me, “Gary you can’t serve God where you are not!” That statement helped me move away from dreaming about future ministry to engaging myself in the daily personal ministry right in front of me every day.

Next week Gary will be writing about creating spiritual thirst in our conversations.

What do you think?

Comments

[Account Deleted]

Steve,
Have you ever read the biography of John Hyde titled, Praying Hyde? This post reminded me of the little book.

[Steve McCoy]

I haven't read it Todd. Good?

[Bill Streger]

I had a good talk with Gary today, and I think I'm going to be doing Evangelism Coaching with him. Honestly, this is an area that isnt' taught on nearly enough - espcially in church planting circles. We talk way to much about having a killer worship service and not nearly enough about how to be activley cultivating new relationships for the sake of the Gospel.

I'm not good at it, and I know I want to be better. That's where I'm at.

[Steve McCoy]

Bill, I can coach you if you like! ;) Seriously, I'm where you are on this. Would love to hear more about the evangelism coaching. Very cool.

[Danny Slavich]

The routine point is interesting. Working at Starbucks we see many of the same people, at the same time, every weekday. It's very easy to connect with them. I know their names and consider them to be friends. People bring in pictures of their grandkids, pets, and ask about my family coming to visit.

I think building relationships is a lot easier than we sometimes think. For me, though, the hard part is often the transition to meaningful conversation. This post has been helpful, in encouraging me to be more intentional in all my relationships etc.

Danny

[Mark Combs]

My only question is, where does the time come to pull this off?

I love the idea & want to pull this off: but as a new pastor, in between sermon prep, visiting members & family, I'd love to get some practical tips from anyone doing this how they work it in.

[Justin Vance]

Meeting 35 people a week seems like a lot, but maybe not if one is being INTENTIONAL about it. It's easy and normal to find yourself in the routine and flow of a day and forget the needs and voids in the lives of those around us.

I also like the point you made about praying for opportunities. Challenging post, sir.

[Erick C.]

Danny,

I agree with you that "the hard part is often the transition to meaningful conversation". I have thought a lot about this lately. In some conversations it seems so unnatural to "cross the line" into spiritual conversation while others it seems to flow.
I think it would be helpful if we more often spoke about meaningful things that nonbelievers care about (that aren't neccessarily "spiritual"). For example if we got people talking about meaningful issues such as justice, mercy, and even their own relational pains it would be much more natural to transition to the Gospel. If we are people that only talk about sports, entertainment, and the weather (as important as that is to any relationship) it is much harder to get to the Gospel from there. I mean what are we going to do talk about the weather and then transition by saying, "you think it is hot today huh? let me tell you about Hell". Totally unnatural. But if we are conversing with them on an issue of justice that they are passionate about we can speak of our hope of how Jesus will return and end all injustice. We can tell them how He secured this future for us by submitting to unjust treatment by sinners as He satisfied God's justice as our substitute (obviously needs unpacking). It is a much more natural transition, as would be a conversation about their personal problems. Of course it takes time to get there with people, but I think that this kind of meaningful converation about issues they are passionate about is the bridge. Superficial -> Meaningful -> Spiritual -> Gospel.

I'm hoping to grow in it. Dig this post! For me it will have to start with having more of a routine to see the same people everyday.

Thanks,
Erick.