Effective Witness: questions, questions, questions

“She wants to talk more!” 
That’s what one of you shared earlier this week.
It was in response to last week’s PKN where I shared what the Lord has place as a burden in my heart – something rising out of our journey through the Gospel of Matthew.

I still can’t shake from my mind how significant it is that one of only two teachings on prayer from the lips of Jesus, which Matthew presents, deals with prayer for the Harvest.  It’s NOT an optional extra!

The unnerving part is that the divine command to pray for harvesters (9:38) is immediately followed by Jesus’ tap on the shoulder, “And you, disciple, are part of the answer to that prayer!” (10:1)
Gulp!!
That was true for the disciples.
It is true for us.

We were challenged earlier this year by Calvin’s Ministry Board to pray for the Lord to send new believers through our doors.
Let’s be aware that the Lord will probably use us, one by one, to be part of the answer to that prayer – by having us share the Gospel with our neighbours, friends and coworkers.

Piece that together with this – last Spring a missionary did a presentation here at Calvin and said,
“It doesn’t make much sense to talk to someone about the Lord
without
talking to the Lord about that someone.“

Which, if true, means we’d be well served by keeping a working set of names on our daily prayer list;
people for whom we are praying that the Holy Spirit will provide an opportunity to:
- to be a genuine friend
- to show true care in their life
- to engage them in conversation about what, ultimately, matters and how Jesus anchors our existence.

So….
Who is on your “harvest” prayer list?

Over the last few days I got emails from a few of you about experiences in this regard.

One of  you shared about the challenge of being a loving presence, support and witness in the life of someone who is adament they are non-believers, but standing at death’s door.  How easy it is to give up!  And, from a human perspective, how discouraging!
But you’re not quitting – thank God.

Another of you shared about a coworker who was in the faith, but wandered away.  And you’ve been praying.  You’ve also experience conversations that have “just happened” to recently turn to faith topics, and found an open door to encouragement to re-examine faith in Jesus.  And the co-worker is responding positively!
“She wants to talk more” you wrote.
May the Lord’s grace continue to flow.

Thanks for sharing.
Keep me posted.

Almost a year ago we did a sermon series called “Re-gifting Christmas.“
It focused on key points to effective witnessing.  You can find the sermon manuscripts and study notes HERE

The first point was to check our attitudes.
- see the PKN post “Attitudes In Witnessing“

The second key point was:
“Ask more questions than you make statements.”

An interesting feature of Jesus’ ministry is that he asks a lot of questions.
Jesus didn’t simply come with a few “sales points” that he wanted to make.
He came, often, with questions.

Because questions engage people.
Just giving stock answers shuts them down; keeps them away.

Questions provides space for other people to think and process.
Questions also demand that we pay attention.
Questions move us from “sales” towards dialogue.

And, when answers are given to questions, it is often also appropriate to ask…..
……more questions.

The thing about questions is that the conversations they spark are not quite predictable.
They may not go quite as fast as we’d like, in the direction we hope.
And they may force us to re-examine some of our own assumptions (scary, eh?).

Questions
defuse tension
build trust
establish bonds.

Someone suggested that there are at least three types of questions we could ask as Harvest Workers for Christ:
a. Introductory questions - just getting to know the other person in a basic way, seeking information
b. Probing questions – seeking to explore, in greater depth, the topic being discussed
c. Invitational questions – encouraging, challenging, asking a person to take a new perspective or a new approach or a next step

Of course, this isn’t to say that we NEVER make statements.
No more than we NEVER ask questions.
Dialogue has both questions and statements.
Have a peek at Matthew 19 for a great example where Jesus engages in dialogue that has both:
questions and statements.

There are times we are in a place where it is best to simply DECLARE the gospel:
give a simple, clear message of what Jesus means to us.

There are other times when we are led by the Holy Spirit to DEFEND the gospel:
to give some explanation for the consistency and plausibility of the Christ-message.

And then, there are the times when we get to DIALOGUE the gospel:
to engage in conversation, including questions – tossing spiritual matters around with others.

Holy Spirit of Jesus, please guide each of us as we seek to be your Harvest Workers in the city.
May you use us to bring new believers through the doors here at Calvin.

Thoughts on this?
Love to hear from you.

The Living Lord be with you.

Pastor Ken