What to talk about?

April 12, 2009

Today's Reading: Joshua 17-18 and Romans 15

Have you ever been in a situation where you meet someone for the first time, and for some odd reason, there is a terrifying awkward silence between the two of you. I mean, here it is, you meet someone who you have never met before, and you can’t think of anything to talk about! I mean, there are so many topics, books, movies, TV, family, weather, politics, your life, for crying out loud.

It kind of makes me wonder what Paul would talk about. I would like to think that he had higher standards than your average John Q. Christian. If he ever met anyone, he was somewhat limited in his conversation. Paul said in today’s reading that “he will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done”.

So, in other words, Paul did not venture (risk) talking about anything except that which God had done for him. What if we took this vow. How many conversations can we possibly have? I would hope it would be a lot.

I know the evangelical world would say: “you got to tell somebody what Jesus did for you”. In all honesty, I would hope that the subject of what Jesus has done has already come up in everyday conversation. Not only that, I discovered that when God is really working in the life of someone, they don’t have to say anything.

So what are we supposed to talk about. Sometimes, when I am sitting in a coffee shop, and I inadvertently overhear someone’s conversation, I find it quite odd at times. Especially ones where it makes no sense without a frame of reference. It’s like in a movies, where a character hears part of a conversation and thinks the wrong thing. Most of the conversations that I overhear are full of swear words, nothing to do with what God can do in someone’s life.

But if every conversation that we had was about what God has done for us, just think of how much happier we would be. We would talk about what we should be talking about, instead of how crappy or illogical the world is. The world already does a good job of that as it is.

So let me start by telling you that Jesus has saved me, and workin’ in my life right now quite well.