Watch this hialrious video and then feel free to read on.

 

I’ve never been a master of language. In fact, I’m still learning the do’s and don’t's of the English language and it’s the only one I know. Conversation goes beyond language. In my experience, conversation is what takes place when a deeper purpose is in mind than the mere exchange of words. Conversation is challenging and rewarding. Conversation is educational and inspiring. Conversation swims in the deep end and strikes a loudly orchestrated cord within us.

It’s not too often that I remember the words I’ve spoken throughout the day. Yet, I remember certain conversations I’ve had with people that go way back. Here are just a few that come to mind now:

Convo numero uno: Back in the fall of 2005, I sat in the female prayer room of an Islamic Mosque in Cambridge, Massachusetts where I dialogued with a Muslim woman named Nataka (she told me her name means peace). Nataka and I conversed for over an hour discussing Islam’s major objections to Christianity. More than we probably realized at the time was taking place there than the exchange of words. Both Nataka and I had purpose and meaning behind our every word which made this conversation unforgettable. We both spoke with authority about what we believed. I didn’t convince Nataka that day that Jesus was her only answer to her life’s journey to find purpose.  Sitting in a prayer room, I boldly asked my new friend if it would be ok for me to pray for her to my God, her Father. She accepted, I prayed out loud in the prayer room of the Mosque, we embraced and I left. I will never forget our conversation that day.

Convo numero dos: It’s a hot day in southern California and I’m reading on the patio of a local coffee shop. A man sitting a few small round table over calls out to me, “do you speak Hebrew?” “Shalom,” I replied. At that, he rose from his chair and joined me at my table. The man was an Israeli and quickly learned that Shalom was about the only word I knew in Hebrew. Yet, his question launched us into an incredible conversation about the Jewish boy named Jesus. Having much respect for the man Jesus, this Israeli was not convinced he was the Messiah his people had been waiting for. And there I was sharing with him the reasons why I believe he and I share the same ancestry.  What a fun conversation this was! In sharing about Abraham, we were like 2 kids talking about how much we loved our grandpa. I never got the mans name that day.

Convo numero tres: It was summer of 2005 and I was in my final days of an 8 week stay in Moldova. I was staying with an incredible woman named Tatyana. Sitting in her home one evening, we had a conversation about her life during the communist regime. Tatyana didn’t know English and I didn’t know Romanian so we spoke through her son-in-law on the phone just over the border in Romania. Tatyana told me what it was like to worship God during a time when Atheist ruled. She told stories of reprinting sections of the Bible using Russian letters as a disguise. There were stories of building a church of stone without machinery. Her and her friends literally smoothed concrete with their bare hands. She had the scars to show me.  On that evening in her tiny apartment, with her son-in-law on the line in Romania, I felt like we were, in a fraction of a way, living out Hebrews 13:3.

Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you were yourselves were suffering.

Jesus had some purpose driven conversations didn’t he? The woman at the well, the bleeding woman, the countless parables and one of my favorites, the conversation with the Father in John 17. All of these conversations went beyond the exchange of words and touched down in a transforming way on the hearts of those who heard.

I am changed because of the 3 conversations mentioned above as well as from many others. I am most definitely changed by some of the conversations I’ve had with God. I believe God keeps those conversations in some pretty awesome bowls in heaven (Rev. 5:8). He cherishes our words and the result is a transformed heart and mind.

All of this has me thinking a lot about the importance of conversation. I wonder how the relationships in my life could be more meaningful if I took the time to have an intentional conversation with family members, co-workers, fellow church members and friends. What if I spent more time with people to really talk with them rather than move so quickly through the complacency of polite, purposeless conversation? What if I spent more time in purposeful conversation with my Creator? How then would my heart be more transformed to take on the shape of the cross? Meaning, how would my life be a better testament to the gospel?

Are there some conversations that stand out in your life? Why do you think that is? What are some of the values you’ve taken away from purposeful conversations you’ve had?

Let’s talk! After all, this is ConversantLife.