Conversation On An Airplane
We got this OA this week from New Life Community Church in Burlingame, CA:
I wanted to let you know that on my flight I had a doable experience. My seatmate & I were talking generally about living in the Bay Area & he asked what I liked and what I don’t. I told him that one complaint I have is that in the Bay Area people aren’t interested in my faith journey as Christian in the same way that they would be if I were Kabbalistic Jew/Buddhist/Hindu/etc. And I acknowledged that Christian evangelism has been misguided at times, giving people some legitimate cause to be leery of us. I added that I was part of a group of people trying to do things differently.
We continued to chat and he agreed to answer the four Doable Evangelism questions. YAY! Here’s the 60-Second Survey:
- What’s the difference between spirituality and religion?
- Which spiritual person do you most admire?
- What would you say to Christians if they would listen?
- Has anyone ever tried to “save” you?
He had some interesting things to say. In particular he said that Christians should quit using Heaven as a carrot and focus on the here & now. Christians should speak of what relevance the faith might mean for people today. Interestingly, he also knew that the Bay Area has abysmal church participation, but he perceives that there are many churches here. We talked about faith for about 45 minutes — which is a long time for an amateur like me!
There is no dramatic conclusion to this story, no profession of faith, no sinner’s prayer prayed, etc., but a few days later I realized that this is in fact the ONLY time I have ever talked to an airplane seatmate about faith. I was comfortable identifying as a Christian and he seemed comfortable sharing his faith and concerns and doubts, too. I felt good that it was definitely a conversation, not a sales pitch.
I remember that Randy said we need a new way of keeping score in evangelism, and that we should be counting conversations not just conversions, so it was exciting to be equipped to interact with a stranger about faith and not feel weird and phony and Bible thump-y while doing so. The 4-questions approach really worked here because it facilitated an honest exchange of ideas.
July 23rd, 2008 · 3 Comments
Categories: OA Stories
Steve Kiefer said
am July 24 2008 @ 6:35 pm
After attending about every soul winning seminar out there, I’ve learned that its all about conversations - utilizing time equity, being a good listener, not being polished/rehearsed. People are so saavy and see right through it. Be natural. It works!
April Terry said
am July 24 2008 @ 6:55 pm
This was good because it illustrates that as Christians we don’t need to pretend NOT to be Christian, we just need to be ourselves and be willing to understand someone else’s viewpoint as well. We don’t need to try to sell them something they don’t want. It wouldn’t matter if it was Avon, Amway, or Christ, if people don’t want to buy what we’re selling they will turn us off.
I think we just need to stop trying to sell them anything and just be what God is asking us to be. That’s compelling enough.
Randy said
am July 29 2008 @ 1:54 pm
I LOVED this:
Why is it we seem to be obsessed with “dramatic conclusions”? Maybe it’s because that’s how TV pitches it’s stuff (stay tuned for the dramatic conclusion of…)? In the church world we have placed the conversion moment as the only real goal or objective for evangelism. This has made us so myopic that we literally cannot see any value in connection with others outside this “dramatic conclusion”.
Personally I thought the conclusion here was powerful (and even a bit dramatic, in it’s own way). The fact that for the FIRST TIME this guy had a conversation with an airplane seatmate about faith (and one that was normal, fun and respectful) was a HUGE encouragement to me.
Way to go.