It’s always nice to have the kids come home, even if it’s just one of them, and even if it’s just for a short time. Yesterday, my daughter came home with her boyfriend and while we enjoyed our supper, the conversation soon turned to spiritual things– not awkwardly, like, “ok, I need to be a spiritual leader, sounding so godly in front of my kids, but, hey, I had a question about something I read, or an idea I heard at church, and what do you think about that?” It’s just the sort of talk that used to adorn our dinner table way-back-when on Sundays after church, and still does whenever we’re together. I can hear all of you now… That just sounds so pastoral. Ugh! But that’s the beauty of Godly conversation; it holds both the promise of present encouragement and the hope of future edification. The Apostle Paul thinks so too; he writes in the fourth chapter of the letter to the Colossians,
” Let your speech always be with grace, as though, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to respond to each person.” (4:6)
Turns out that some of my best times are spent with family or friends chewing over Spiritual truth. Sometimes it happen while I am on a bicycle, and other times, it’s at breakfast with church men I love in Christ. It often occurs at our weekly Bible studies, where the free expression of ideas is encouraged not stifled. And then there are those dinner dates; it usually is Deb and me, but equally beneficial are the stimulating encounters with close friends, who have shared our lives in former churches and long ago school board relationships. And it’s here where we have the opportunity to sharpen one another, bear up one another, and laugh together as friends who have battled life as one.
Now, I know there are plenty of folks who are starved for meaningful, real relationships. Too often they substitute mere images for the real thing, cheap seconds, when God has made the real stuff of intimacy available for the asking. But there should never be a shortage of conversation with believers ready and able to engage the life of another, strengthen the spiritual walk of another, or just listen to the need of another at work in the transformation of their soul.
So, I’ll grab the coffee– you bring the conversation and let’s talk up some biblical truth.
Walk wisely.
MJC
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