5:158 – Have the faith conversation with a friend

#faithbites #faithjourney conversation

Intro

Let’s start first with the grammar of the title. You may think it should be have “a” conversation vs “the” conversation. I chose “the” because faith is that important. We need to talk about it and that conversation should be ongoing.

During my conference, there was an overarching thread of inclusivity and helping one another. From understanding what our identities are, more on that tomorrow, to understanding others, we need to know to build a deep relationship with them.

Tonight, I had a great dinner and conversation about faith with a good friend of mine who is Muslim. That is one of his many identities. We talked about what he believed in, what his faith tells him, and I did the same. Through our conversation, we realized we are more alike than different, learn about the story of Ja’far. Remember when starting “the” conversation may be uncomfortable but we grow through it.

Questions

• Have you ever had “the” faith conversation with someone not of your same belief?
• Do you seek out opportunities to learn about others?
• How can followers of Jesus have “the” conversation with a spirit of love and understanding?

Scripture

• Amos 3:3 – “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet
• 1 John 1:6 – If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

Reflection

I wrestle with God on a dialy basis. He osjhes me, I pull, and I learn. But he wants us to wrestle with one another and grow. When we debate and learn from one another, we become closer to His vision for us. We need to have “the” conversation to understand where someone is coming from and why they believe what they believe. We also know that none of us are perfect and fall short of the Glory of God.

In our scriptures, the Amos verse hit me hard. It isn’t saying that we are going to agree or that our paths won’t ever diverge. But we can’t even begin that walk without agreeing to meet. We have to start “the” conversation and see where God takes us.

As we close, remember that we need to understand each other to truly love one another. Beginning that walk togdther, with God by our side, is how we start.

Prayer

Lord GGod, thank you for the wonderful converse and great friends. You’ve shown us that we all come from different walks of love and have different identities. We may believe different things but are more similar than we are different. Help us to converse kindly and lovingly, changing and listening, to walk together. We pray this in your name, Amen.