THIS IS HOW WE DO IT - (COFFEE/DINNER/GOSPEL)

I n t r o d u c t i o n

There's a saying among Christian missionaries: Closed country, open hearts; open country, closed hearts.

• Do you think this is true for Australia?

B i g P i c t u r e

Our society is structured against going deeper and asking the bigger questions - to do so requires relational engagement, or Coffee, Dinner, Gospel.

K e y T r u t h s

• Have you noticed that people like to compartmentalise their lives?
• We talk about work/life balances, as if life doesn't really happen at work. Why is that?

In Australia, we tend to see the world in two very separate realms;

• Public, observable, secular realm
• Private, sacred realm

Our culture has learned that conversations on religion tend to lead to fights, and so we avoid them in public arenas to keep the peace.

• So, how can we talk to people about Jesus?

The deeper we go in relationships, the deeper we are willing to share and discuss with one another - it's all a matter of trust. Let's look at how conversations work in our culture according to Coffee, Dinner, Gospel:

COFFEE - Coffee is public and safe. Conversation is usually quick, is restricted to small talk -- weather, sport, news.

DINNER - Dinner is more private. Once small talk is exhausted, we become open to more private issues - personal values, worldviews, politics, and religion. Once we move into the private realm we need to listen well; asking questions like,

'Do you have faith? Do you pray?

What values do you want your kids to have? How did you come to believe that?' (notice the factual way of asking a private question)

GOSPEL - The gospel touches who we are at our most central part, and so it usually takes some time for us to get to this stage with people.

Thoughts?

A p p l i c a t i o n

Sharing Jesus means going deeper in relationships. Our culture resists speaking about the matters of the gospel of Jesus until we've built relational trust.

But also, sharing Jesus takes confidence.... in God.

Daniel prays "He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him." (Daniel 2:22 - NIV).

God knows the private thoughts of our colleagues - better than we do!

We can trust God as we seek to draw people out. God knows their hearts and is an expert at drawing the hidden things to light.

P r a y e r

Pray for the people in your workplace, pray for deepening relationships with colleagues for the sake of Jesus.