Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Common Ground

John 4:1 – 18

I want to apologize for this being late today, my internet was down.

If you have a relationship with the Lord, you are excited about life, about where you are going and what the future holds. If you came to relationship later in life you understand the impact that it means to everything. In other words, relationship with the Lord has made your life better and you want to share that with others. The question is, “How do we do that effectively?”

Jesus gave us an example in this passage. He had nothing in common with this woman. She was a woman he was a man, she was a Samaritan He was a Jew. she had been married and He was single the difference keeps going from there. Despite there obvious differences Jesus found common ground.

If we want people to know the joy, love and peace that we have come to know we must find a way to communicate that people will be able to understand, common ground. Those of you that know me have heard me say in all my travels I have found three things are universally true and that are common ground for most of us; everyone wants to be loved, do better for their kids than they did themselves, and even the most ardent atheists I have met have hoped there is something more out there than just us! Common ground.

Jesus found common ground with an everyday event, drawing water from a well. In talking about the seemingly mundane Jesus was able to hit on a need the woman had, to be loved. Like most people, she was slightly put off by his pushing her to a deeper level of communication. She tried to deflect the communication but trying to drag Jesus into a theological argument. He would go there or allow anything to distract Him from showing her love. One thing we need to be careful of is losing the heart of the matter through such kinds of discussions. In situations like this people are generally looking for us to give them insight about this topic, they are trying to find out what we believe and are willing to use that to shut down the discussion before it goes to far. Jesus stayed on point. When she saw that He genuinely cared for her, she began to open up. If you are sharing your faith just to add a “salvation notch” onto your belt you are missing the point. Correct theology comes from a deep love and understanding of God. No one’s theology is perfect but our love for people can be!

Most people are looking for relationship with the Lord. A recent survey showed that 60% of all people would come to church if asked. It is simply a matter of common ground. If you have been having difficulty sharing your faith with people, try finding the common ground.

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