from dave goffeney

1. I came up with a list of ‘spiritual’ words that I go through in order to get a feel of where somebody is coming from regarding their ‘proximity’ to the gospel. It is an opportunity to open a conversation that leads to the gospel, but it gives the person a chance to see my genuine interest in who they are and what they think. The questions intentionally lead toward the gospel, but are still open enough to not be canned or closed. <br />Pros/Cons:<br />Pros:<br />Can do this anywhere.<br />People are thinking about Jesus by the end of the conversation.<br />Leads the conversation to Jesus, but is still ‘authentic dialogue’.<br />Very much a ‘way of life’ tool<br />It is an incredible spring-board into deep gospel conversation (If you are polite and honor what you told them their getting into…ASK PERMISSOIN TO EXPLAIN FURTHER)<br />Also, it gives you an idea of where a person is and what points of the gospel need to be especially highlighted.<br />It is an incredible reference point to things a person has said that you can go back to while sharing the gospel.<br />Cons:<br />While transferable, people need to be conversationalists. If somebody is awkward and not friendly, this will be too. <br />You do have to ‘take the plunge’ to actually sharing the gospel (It’s not just going to happen, but if you’re intentional to go there and do it respectfully, transition can go well).<br />It can seem ‘canned’ when you lead into the gospel if you are not candid and sensitive to where a person is at. You have to be honest and be ‘ok’ ending the conversation if that’s what’s needed. <br /> “Hey, what’s up dude? My name is Dave and this is my friend Brian. We’re walking around talking to people who are hanging out on campus and asking a few questions about what associations we have with certain words (Basically, be real and be conversational!!! If you read this 2 years from now, “what’s up dude?” and “hanging out” may seem out of date…but the point is to be normal, authentic, conversational, humble, and bold). We’re with a student group on campus, Campus Crusade for Christ, and we want to get a feel for what people are thinking about regarding spiritual things. Can we get your thoughts on these words? (pause…wait for response).<br /> Nice, what’s your name? Ok Mark, again, my name is Dave and this is Brian. Where are you from? What year are you? (Again, be personable but get to the point soon).<br /> So, what we’re doing is this: I’ll say a word related to spiritual things, and you just say what comes to mind. It can be a phrase, a thought, an image, a person, etc… Cool?” <br />1.) God:<br />2.) Spirituality:<br />3.) After-life:<br />I ask a follow-up depending on what they say to get an idea of their thoughts on “heaven/hell” and how one gets to either place…<br />4.) Sin:<br />5.) Grace:<br />6.) Bible:<br />7.) Christian:<br />8.) Gospel:<br />9.) Jesus:<br />**I switch the words up and sometimes throw one in while I’m going if it seems to fit that person. For example, I’ll use “Hope”, “Forgiveness”, or “Guilt” if appropriate). <br />“Thanks for sharing with us. I love hearing your insights and some of those words seemed to really spark some thoughts for you. Can I ask a few follow-up questions on some of the things you said? (From here, use Randy Newman’s Questioning Evangelism stuff and ask questions to draw them out). Well, I’d love to share a little bit about how thinking about these words and really understanding what the Bible says about them has impacted my life. Can I briefly share with you my growing understanding of these words?”<br />OR, if there’s a real connection and you think moving the person into a body or natural mode relationship would be best, do that, rather than going for the knock-out punch if they don’t seem to be in a good place for it. <br />