When it comes to talking with people who don't believe or are seeking, we should not 'pump the gospel' in their heads... It is much better to coach people, where they have freedom to explore and discover by themselves. As their coach, you give support on the sideline, help where you can, don't help if you cannot. The way you coach is by asking questions to give direction to the discovery that people are doing.
Goals You have five goals you want to reach by asking questions:
- Get to know the other person: who is he/she; what does he/she believe and why; what 'position' do they take regarding to God; 'where are they' related to God?
- Find common ground. What do you have in common with that other person? What positive things about faith can you both heartedly agree on? (Often we tend to look for disagreements and differences, which leads to difficult discussions.)
Use the common ground as a starting point for further conversation.
- Try to find out what step that other person needs to take to get closer to God. Which pieces of the puzzle are already there? Which are lacking? Which are on the wrong place maybe?
- Try to find a route that leads closer to God. Try to get that person on the move. Walk together and try to take the other one with you down that road closer to God.
- When doing so you will bump into obstacles, objections, arguments etcetera. Help that persons to get around them.
Training I can do training sessions from 1.5 to 5 hours, including an extended powerpoint presentation, a DVD with examples, exercises, interactive involvement of the audience and role-playing, depending on the available time and specific needs. |