Christian Conversation (3)

Welcome to the PMF Workshop for April 2023. I’m your host, T. M. Moore. Each month we provide teaching, encouragement, activities, and resources to help you in working your Personal Mission Field so that you can become more consistent and effective in realizing the presence, promise, and power of God’s Kingdom in your daily life.

This month’s Workshop is Part 3 in a series on conversation, one of the key disciplines we use in working our Personal Mission Field. Conversation, as we have seen, is a learned art, and we must be willing to learn it. It’s important that we keep in mind that all our conversations take place in a larger context, one that is always moving toward the far horizon of the Presence of God. This month’s workshop is entitled, “Toward the Far Horizon”, and our text is Luke 24.15: “So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.”

Good conversations
Conversation is not a “one-and-done” activity. Good conversations range far and wide, branch off into new topics, and continue intermittently over long periods of time. Conversation, in short, should simply be a way of life for us as followers of Christ.

Conversations can build relationships; thus, Christians should be actively involved in seeking to start and maintain conversations with as many people as they can, especially those we regularly encounter in our Personal Mission Fields. The more we practice consideration, consistency, clarity, and excellence in our conversations, the easier it will be to keep them going over time.

But the Christian conversationalist does not engage others merely for the sake of conversation, as though conversation were an end in itself. We know that all of life – including those with whom we converse from time to time – is moving toward the far horizon of eternity. So we must learn to see our conversations in the light of and for the sake of that horizon.

The conversations we have with others should pique their interest in spiritual matters, or, at the very least, remind them that such matters are of vital concern, at least to us. Like Jesus, walking, listening, talking, discussing, and teaching the disciples on the Emmaus road, we want our conversations to lead people to a heightened awareness of God and His glory. 

A proper perspective
How do we do that?

First, we must maintain a proper perspective on all our conversations, regardless of the subject matter or context. Nothing we do, and this includes our conversations, is done merely “under the sun,” as Solomon might say. We always live our lives under God, unto God, and for God and His Kingdom. We are citizens and ambassadors of a Kingdom not of this world, and we seek the glory of God in all we do or say. It is to be expected, therefore, that our conversations will reflect that reality.

Thus, we must nurture a mindset that makes sure that all our speech is offered in the very Presence of the Lord of glory (Col. 3.1-2). Through meditation, prayer, singing, and practice with our Christian friends, we may enhance our ability to live our lives under the watchful eye of our ascended Lord, remembering always that we have been seated with Him in heavenly places (Eph. 2.6).

Conversations carried on in that light will always be ennobling, enriching, edifying, and pure. They will avoid that which is merely vulgar or trivial.

Keeping God’s purposes in mind
Second, we must think consciously, as we are conversing, about the relationship between the topic in view and the sovereign purposes of God.

Because Jesus is the Lord of all, there is not a single subject or topic that does not have some connection to His eternal purposes and plan. All conversational roads do, indeed, lead to Jesus – if we know the map and can keep it in mind.

The challenge to us is to learn to see each topic of conversation as a pointer or portal to the risen Lord. This doesn’t mean that we’re going to pounce on every topic as a “launching pad” to the Gospel; rather, it means we want to learn to appreciate and take seriously each topic, to infuse our conversations with gratitude and keen interest, and to help others, through our questions and opinions, to experience the larger, eternal setting within which even the most mundane matters are discussed.

Finally, we must look for ways of connecting conversations with eternal verities – elements of revelation in Scripture or creation, truths from the Christian heritage, evidence of God’s grace at work in the world, aspects of our own experience in the Lord, inclinations and actions of the human soul that can only be accounted for in Biblical terms.

After all, we are always journeying toward the far horizon, and, as believers, focusing on it continuously and longing for it eagerly. It is natural for us to see, in the glory of God everywhere being revealed, signposts and benchmarks indicating the way forward to eternal life.

In our conversations we will want those with whom we speak to walk that journey with us, or at least, to have the opportunity of glimpsing, however faintly, the far horizon toward which we journey, and considering whether it might not offer more of hope, peace, purpose, and joy than what they presently believe.

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Here are some activities you can practice and some resources to help you in working your Personal Mission Field.

1. Again, make sure your Personal Mission Field is updated, and you have included in your Personal Mission Field worksheet any new people God has brought into your sphere. Keep your map with you, so you can take it out and pray for the people you see throughout the day.
2. If you need practice in focusing on Christ exalted and returning in glory, choose some Scripture to memorize, and meditate on them daily until you can see more clearly into the realm of unseen things.
3. Have a conversation with God about each person in your Personal Mission Field. Take your time. Talk and listen. Imagine what you might talk about and how those topics might provide you an opportunity to remark the grace and goodness of God, or to share part of your personal testimony.
4. Continue making a point to speak to every person in your Personal Mission Field as often as the opportunity arises. Greet them by name. Ask about their wellbeing. Pick up on a previous conversation. Ask for a prayer request.
5. Order a free copy of our book, What in Heaven Is Jesus Doing on Earth? This little book can help you gain a sharper and more constant focus on the far horizon of life. Order your copy by clicking here.

That’s it for this month’s Personal Mission Field Workshop. Until next month, for the Fellowship of Ailbe, this has been T. M. Moore.

We ask the Lord to move and enable many more of our readers to provide for the needs of our ministry. Please seek Him in prayer concerning your part in supporting our work. You can contribute online by using the Contribute button at the website; or you can send a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 360 Zephyr Road, Williston, VT 05495.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.