The Golden Question
How do you practice the “everyday preaching” that Pope Francis calls us to without being weird?
I’ve grappled with this question throughout my life. At one point, I would have been offended at the thought that I was one of those people who walked around talking to others about Jesus. Offended because I had in mind the awkward Christian and the Bible Thumper.
Now, I love proclaiming the Good News to those around me, but I know it takes a few relational pre-requisites before another person will receive me and the message well.
Relational Pre-Requisites
- You have a real relationship with trust and respect with the other person.
- You have been talking more to Jesus about that person than you have been talking to that person about Jesus.
- You have asked for permission to share your faith journey sometime.
- You have shared your stories (and heard their story) before you jump into the conversation about Jesus.
Once you are ready to have a conversation about Jesus, The Golden Question is a great one to have in your back pocket. Start with, “So, where are you with God?” Then ask, “Where do you WANT to be?”
If all of this still seems a little uncomfortable, here are some steps to get you started:
- Begin to pray for those who you are in relationship with, and ask the Lord who He is calling you to share the God News with sometime.
- Map your own spiritual journey (worksheet below).
Continue the Conversation
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Host
Jim Jansen – Director of Pastoral Services, Archdiocese of Omaha
Fr. Jeff Lorig – Pastor at St. Joan of Arc and St. Thomas More
Resources
The Kerygma – The 4 R’s of the Gospel
Clear & Simple: How to Have Conversations that Lead to Conversion
2 Responses to “The Golden Question”
You asked us to let you know how it’s going: (response from Sept 22nd Podcast “The Golden Question”). God keeps putting 2 people ( a married couple) on my heart and this has been going on for what seems like forever. They are friends we met in college. They enjoy coming to visit us in northeast nebraska to hunt and enjoy the country life. Neither grew up in homes that had strong belief in God and they call themselves agnostic. They had their first child and I see some opportunities for evangelization opening up, but it’s going to be a super slow process. They seem to respect our Catholic beliefs, but don’t show much interest in them. Long story, but they ended up coming to visit last weekend. We had a candle lit on our table from All Souls Day where our children wrote the names of all our deceased loved ones (including our dog who just died). It was a great conversation starter – the husband is a high school Spanish teacher and he was very interested in the cultural context of the dia de los Muertos. We ended up having a fruitful conversation and it wasn’t weird at all!!! A testament to Jim’s statement that God beautifully brings the right people together at the right time. I will be praying more intentionally for this friendship. Keep the great podcasts coming! ~Angela
Thanks so much Angela. That is such a beautiful example of how the Spirit just leads the way and puts us in just the right place at just the right time.