Greg is an international consultant who spends many days living out of hotel rooms. Along the way he has made many international friends. He is making new discoveries about them all the time.
Discovery.
He brought a colleague from work to his hotel to see if he might like it better than where he was staying. The non-Christian friend noticed a book on business as mission on his nightstand.
Later his colleague mentioned that he had bought and was reading the book he had seen on Greg’s nightstand.
He said he was surprised it talked about mission so much. Greg explained that the principles were good and applicable to all businesses.
The friend also accompanied him to church one Sunday. He noticed Greg did not carry a Bible like the others and asked, why not. “Ah,” Greg explained, “there’s an app for that.” He showed him that he had the Bible on his smart phone.
The colleague immediately downloaded the Bible onto his phone too. Clearly, there was a desire to understand and emulate Greg as a wise and successful business person and friend.
As Greg discovered, your business associates are always watching. You never know what will make an impression on them, so you need to always be ready.
Opportunity.
If you are alert, there are lots of opportunities. When the opportunities come, give an explanation and move on. Don’t “over-respond”. They will continue to pursue their questions when they are ready. Because Greg did not become “preachy” his friend didn’t feel pressured but did feel welcome to continue the conversation later.
Takeaways:
1. People are always watching. Let your light shine. Learn to drop tiny spiritual bombshells in the most casual, natural way!
2. People are curious. Any casual thing you do or say that discreetly announces
“I know about God and I am willing to talk,” will feed their interest.
3. Follow up on openings. Answer questions briefly, adding bits of information to keep more questions coming. And move on.
4. Take small steps. Allow seekers to pace the conversations with their questions as they are ready. Seekers need time to process what we tell them and time for the Holy Spirit to work on them.
This approach is what Ruth Siemens referred to as fishing evangelism. It is patient, allowing seekers to pursue their conversations and questions as they are ready. We can turn people off or confuse them by saying too much too soon and using terms they do not yet know. Speak briefly and then wait. Think, “The next move is up to them.”