As I talk with people about God, there are a lot of people who are open to talk about God or who want to talk about God, or who have questions but, just like the believer, they, too, don’t know how or where to start the conversation.  It’s often as simple as that.  You’ll be surprised how many folks are willing to talk about God, but remember, there will always be people who are not, and so we need to move on and not let that inhibit us.

  • Conversations with people are wonderful, in and of themselves!  God made every person you’ll meet and they have a soul and are created to be God’s imagers, and so they have dignity and beauty and are precious, whether they believe in Jesus Christ or they don’t.   

    I say ‘Hi!’ to everyone I come across.  If there’s an opportunity, I’ll often ask a question, or two (ok, maybe 5 or 6!), depending on the situation we find ourselves in and under what circumstances I’ve come into contact with them.  There are literally 100’s of questions that can be asked, from where they are going, to why you find yourselves, to what they’re wearing, what they’re doing.

     

    You can ask initial questions: 

    How long have you lived here? 

    Where did you go to high school (or college)? 

    Where are you headed on your trip?   

    Have you been there before? 

    How many children do you have?  

    Where do you work?  Or, Where did you work before you retired? 

    How long have you lived in the states?  

     

    There are times conversations begin with simple compliments: 

    Hey, love your truck!  (That happened yesterday, and I talked for 5 minutes with the man and his passengers.) 

    Your children are very well-behaved! 

    You’re really good at _____ ! 

     

    There are questions or comments made amid helping people or being helped: 

    May I take your cart for you, since you have the children?  

    I’ll carry your paint cans out for you.  (That occurred this week, as well, and the conversation lasted 10 – 15 minutes.) 

    Do you have a torx bit to get this screw out?  

    Can I get that off the shelf for you?  

     

    …and 100’s of more questions! 

     

    When our children were growing up and we’d go to get gas, I’d come back to the car and one of the children would inevitably say: “So, where was that other guy from?  Does he have children?  What does he do for a living?  Does he believe in Jesus?”  

    You can learn a lot about life and people from all kinds of people God brings your way!  But it’s also a way to get to know someone to ascertain where they are spiritually.  And, depending on the time you have, you can choose from the questions below to fit your circumstances.   

    The questions you ask will vary, depending on your relationship with the person, how long you’ve known them, and where they are in their spiritual walk: atheist, agnostic, culturally religious (Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Shinto, etc), weak Christian, or a mature Christian.  Whatever question/s you do ask, you will want to choose wisely.  Also, just know, you will blow it a hundred times, but over time, you will get better and better at asking questions.  In fact, the times I felt I blew it sharing the gospel or asking a question the most, people have come back later to thank me for asking that question.  Whatever you do, always ask your questions in a spirit of love and humility – those qualities are oftentimes more effective and winsome than any question you could ask. 

  • There are times when a comment can open up conversation about God.  

    Sometimes it’s the little comment: 

    • Everything that’s good in my life is because of knowing Jesus Christ.   

    • I can’t imagine having gone through this without the Lord Jesus.  

    • (6 AM, on a dune on Okaloosa Island)  “What a beautiful sunrise!  I can’t imagine something this beautiful without there being a God.”  (To which another man on the dune commented, beginning a friendship with an unbeliever that has lasted 5 years, and who has introduced us to several of his family and friends.)  

    LESS CHALLENGING QUESTIONS 

    If you could ask God 1 question, what would you ask Him?  

    If you could have a MIRACLE from God, what would you ask for? 

    Do you feel near to God or far from Him?  WHY? 

    In a general discussion, at a funeral, accident, or upon hearing of a tragic death: What do you think happens when we die?  Why do you think that’s true?   

    MORE CHALLENGING QUESTIONS

    Is there a God? And what is He like? 

    What are we as human beings? 

    What do you think went wrong with the world? 

    What’s the solution?  What do you think would fix or heal it?  

    What is your life about?Might there be more to life – a deeper meaning and purpose to your life, than you realize or have imagined? 

    Have you heard ab Jesus? 

    What do you know about Him? 

    Have you ever read the Bible? 

    Do you remember what parts of it you read?  

    Would you be interested in reading the Bible together and discuss it?   

    BACKDOOR QUESTIONS

    Start with something your friend care about and go from there.  

    Bring up a recent horrific event:  Do you think this was wrong?  Why or why wasn’t it wrong?  

    What am I:  Have you ever asked yourself: If I’m just a random collection of atoms and particles, how is it that we can look at this event or story and instinctively know it’s wrong?   

    Human Rights:  Wouldn’t it be easier to believe in human rights if you believe that God created us with value and dignity, than if you don’t know God, and you think we are just a cosmic accident, an accident of chance and time, just matter and molecules?   

    Justice:  How can there be such a thing as JUSTICE if we are just matter and molecules?   

    Beauty & Art:  Why do beauty and art move us if our only purpose in this life is survival and reproduction?  

    Environment:  Why care about the environment if we’re just another animal?  

    Greed:  Why get so upset about greed?   

  • Have you ever asked yourself: 

    • Where do you think you came from? 

    • Why am I here, anyway? 

    • What is your meaning and purpose in life?   

    • Does life feel meaningless to you?  

    • What if there was someone who loved you so much that they would tell you the truth about everything? Would you listen to them? 

    • Where am I going when I die? 

    (These 6 questions answer the 2 big questions: Who am I?, and, Who is God?) 

  • Otherwise people see Christianity as a religion, system of thought, or that you’re just a nice, or religious, or a moral person, or good advice, not the good news – the word that the Christians in the early church chose to sum up the whole gospel.  

     

     

    INTRODUCING JESUS IN A CONVERSATION:  

    That reminds me of something Jesus SAID… 

    That reminds me of something Jesus DID… 

    That reminds me of a story Jesus TOLD… 

     

    THE GOSPEL IS A RESPONSE TO A QUESTION:  

    Who is Jesus?  Who’s is Jesus, really?  The gospel is not a set or moral commandments that we keep, or a set of ideas we think about, or some religious experience we try to have, but primarily a response to a question.  

    See Mark 8.26-29.  Jesus asks His disciples a question:  

    Who do crowds say I am? Then Jesus asks, ok, but who do YOU say that I am?”  

    The whole of Mark’s gospel turns on that question.  The answer to that question to Peter is the gospel, and the gospel hinges on our answer to that question.  

      

     

    Be open to provide a way for people to contact you: “If you ever want to talk ab Jesus and who He really is, what He means for you, who he is to you, here I am, here’s my number.“  

     

     

    Challenge people to go out and evangelize others through the Word, love, logic, faith, and serving.  

     

     

     

    1 Pet 3.15:  The reason people I the early church asked Christians about the hope that was in them was because they saw in their lives hope, joy and peace amidst the hardships of life in the Roman world.