Counting Conversations

In one of Brian McLaren's books (I think More Ready Than You Realize, but I don't remember for sure) he talks about the evangelical church's obsession with counting conversions. He says that it's far more productive, if you must count something, to count conversations. Conversion is a process that takes a lot of time, energy, and relationship. To expect that we're going to see instant conversion is usually unlikely.

I just had a great example of this. I spend a lot of time working in coffee shops, mainly because I'm always looking to build relationships with people who don't know Jesus. I've had countless opportunities as a result, but it takes time. Today I was talking to a couple of my coffee shop friends that I've gotten to know over the last four years or so. It's pretty incredible to see how often spiritual topics come up. Today, Dave (who grew up Baptist but who married a Catholic) was reflecting on the fact that his kids hate going to church, how they don't get anything out of it and that he doesn't either, but he remembers how he could feel God's presence at church when he went as a kid. He's craving it again. So I invited him to come check out our church, and I think that he might actually do it one of these Sundays. But in the meantime, I can talk to him about how he can energize his spiritual life and what he can do to help his kids develop a relationship with Jesus. And maybe in a year or two or three, these guys will all be passionate followers of Jesus.

One thing that I'm not doing is spending time with them just to turn them into Christians. My motivation is that these are guys that I care about and I want them to know Jesus. But if my motivation for being their friend was to lead them to Jesus, then I wouldn't be a friend. I'd be a salesman. It's pretty clear to me that, at least with the people I hang out with, apart from a relationship with me or other followers of Jesus, there will be no relationship with Jesus.