Significant Conversations
… where “heaven overlaps with the earth.”
God loves words
He started the world with words
Let there be light!
His words became conversations
Adam, where are you?
And his conversations continued
I am the LORD your God, I delivered you. You are my people
But when God wanted to speak his deepest message of love,
the conversation became human
The Word became one of us.
Continue the conversation….
SISI is an acronym that describes a grassroots approach to evangelism. It relieves the pressure we feel to “present a gospel message” and replaces it with the freedom to enjoy significant conversations.
This approach creates a conversational space where there are no winners or losers, just people who are able to express what is significant to them. For the true believer, this is an opportunity for Jesus to shine.
SISI is grassroots. Because conversations are a natural part of our daily relationships, we are encouraged to take current relationships to a deeper, more significant, spiritual level.
SISI consists of four essential aspects:
- SUPPORT: Encouragement comes as a network of believers support each other to "go deeper" in conversation with those they are involved with day-to-day.
- INTENTIONALITY: Which is expressed
through prayer,
attentiveness to the stories of others,
and response to the opportunities God gives to explore and understand their beliefs and values.
- SIGNIFICANT CONVERSATIONS: A conversation of exploration and honesty is encouraged, instead of a rehearsed salvation message. The believer learns to listen and understand, creating "conversational space" to speak of what is relevant and real in their own spiritual life. Because we are listening, we are able to relate our experiences in a way that resonates with the spiritual journey of others.
- IMPACT: Success is measured by the evidence of increased openness and sensitivity to the way of Christ in the spiritual journey of our conversation partners.
How do we live this out?
- Believe that God is already at work in the lives of the people we are concerned about. Believe that this is primarily God’s mission, not ours. We are just along for the ride.
- Pray that God will show us where he is at work. Ask him to give opportunities to talk about serious, deeper issues of life. Don’t try to manipulate the conversation in a particular direction. Wait until God provides the invitation to be involved.
- Attend to the concerns of others. Find out what is important to them, where God fits in. Think like a missionary - good missionaries spend most of their time listening in order to understand. Be alert to the opportunities God gives that can lead to significant conversations.
- When we get the opportunity, respond with authenticity - conversation about what is real to us: the grace of God, the love of Jesus and God’s daily presence. Because we have truly listened, our words will be relevant to those with whom we want to explore the deeper issues of life.
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80%* of the people in your community
will not attend church this Sunday
Your church is already talking to that 80%
Help make those conversations significant
*This is based on an Angus Reid poll that estimated 18% of BC west coast residents attend church regularly (see http://www.outreach.ca/OC6-Resources/download/BC%20Data.ppt). However, according to an Ipsos Reid poll and Dr. Reg Bibby, Canada-wide 25% of Canadians attend church weekly, and 34% monthly (see http://www.canadianchristianity.com/nationalupdates/071206state.html).
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Download a brochure explaining the SISI Acronym
(NOTE: print out on either side of an 8×11 page, fold over according to page numbers.)
Experience at a deeper level what is already a current reality - believers are already salt and light. Ask Mark about the workshop and coaching opportunities for Significant Conversations that will get you started. mark.naylor@twu.ca
Read the Cross-Cultural Impact article of Mark’s experiences that led to the SISI approach entitled "Why I don’t do ‘evangelism’"
Read further: Significant Conversations: Onion Model of Culture
Uneasy with Evangelism
Uncomfortable with Gospel Presentations
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From NBSeminary blog, Oct 5 07 Five aspects of evangelism common to our churches that need to change if we are to make a gospel impact in our communities:
a. The individualistic nature of evangelism. People commonly view Sunday worship as their expression of church, while the rest of the week is lived without church involvement. For example, I have seen written over the exit in some churches: “You are entering the mission field.” While the focus on missions is laudable, the understanding for many is that while we are in the building we are part of a congregation, but when we leave, we are on our own! The common assumption is that those who “do evangelism” with their acquaintances, do it by themselves. This perception is inadvertently advanced by the testimony of those who are gifted evangelists because the interaction is often presented as a private affair. But this approach ignores the great potential for developing a support network with other believers.
b. Defining ministry as church based activity. The ministries of the church are usually understood as the activities that are on the ledger (teacher, usher, maintenance, etc.), and the personal spiritual interaction that people have in their every day relationships are not viewed as church ministry. This perspective needs to be reversed. Each person’s primary church ministry should be the way they reflect Christ in their daily lives, while the tasks associated with church programs are support ministries.
Each person’s primary church ministry should be the way they reflect Christ in their daily lives
c. Evangelism as the task of the church. At one level this is true, but the emphasis often results in downplaying the reality that it is God who has a mission to the world and it is his Spirit that changes hearts. Salvation does not depend on our ability to convict and convince. Rather we need to discover what God is up to in people’s lives and have a conversation. We look for where God is working and explore the significance of that spiritual interest with them.
d. The guilt aspect. In light of people on their way to hell, we feel enormous pressure to give people a gospel message – like medical staff in the emergency room. However, in my experience this perspective actually works against the effectiveness of motivating people to the task. We need to trust that God will do what is right with each individual and not put more responsibility for a person’s eternal destiny on ourselves than is warranted by Scripture. A more appealing and less intimidating paradigm is the view that we are on a spiritual journey and want to walk with others who are also on a journey.
e. The program approach to evangelism. Very often the plea is “bring your friends to church or to our evangelistic outreach” with the implication that “the expert” is best equipped to tell the gospel. However, any one who is a true follower of Christ has a gospel message inside them that their friends are more than likely willing to hear and which would make a greater impact. In the long run, a more productive focus will be to develop a support network so that believers can explore the spiritual joys and challenges of engaging the significant people in their lives.