EP 8 – Telling His Story

Sent 315 Podcast - Episode 8

Telling His Story

Kevin Miller: 00:02

Welcome to Sent 315. We're here to encourage and equip Christians to engage in the adventure of sharing Jesus, those that God puts into their life. And we're so glad you're here.

Kevin Miller: 00:17

Hey, everybody, we are back again. And I've got to tell you, it is just been so exciting for me, Sarah, and Matt that the dialogue has been going on and on. It just hasn't been us talking and talking. It has been people getting back to us and giving us suggestions and what they like and, and saying really nice things. So the dialogue is starting. That's what it's all about. So that's why I'm excited. How are you?

Sarah Marie Mayne: 00:41

I'm doing well. I'm glad to be here, too. I've been really excited about the responses we've been getting. And if you didn't know we have a Facebook community that you should jump into. Not only do we have a Facebook page, but we actually have a Facebook group. It's sent 315 community, you can find it on our website, under the community tab, sent315.org. And that's really great. Because every week we kind of post and we discuss what people are getting out of these episodes, what moments stood out to them? It's a really fun way to engage. You can also post some of your stories. We want to hear those things, too. Just what's going on with you guys?

Kevin Miller: 01:19

The victories and the so-called defeats, which most times are really not as defeated as people think they are. What about you, Matt? What are you been up to?

Matt Hall: 01:27

Same old, same old. But I'm really excited, too. I've been getting a lot of comments from people. And it's just exciting what the Lord's doing. I'm looking forward to this year. As we were discussing earlier, I think that there's many things that we have to look forward to.

Kevin Miller: 01:43

Agreed. Some of my favorite conversations have been with folks that don't have a Christian worldview. And to get their input from a different perspective, which is really good. Because when you're just in the same circle, and in talking, everything like that, you might not be as enlightened. And some are really relieved that we're trying to help Christians be decent and gentle and respectful in their conversations. And they're looking forward to having those conversations with people that aren't clobbering them. So that's been really, really good. And I'm so happy that there are people who don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, who are listening and engaging. That's so cool.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 02:21

It is really cool. And if you haven't noticed to our listeners, we've kind of been doing a series the last couple episodes. Last week, we talked about, not a formula, but just a pattern, an idea to help guide you as you're sharing with people in their story, your story, and his story.

Kevin Miller: 02:45

This is his story.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 02:46

We talked about listening. And then we talked about just different ways that you can go out sharing your story. And so today, we're gonna dive into his story. His being Buddha or God.

Kevin Miller: 03:01

God, Jesus, Jehovah.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 03:04

Sorry, I thought I was on a different podcast.

Kevin Miller: 03:06

You're on your other podcast, right? Okay. Do we ever do any editing?

Matt Hall: 03:11

Just very, very slight. It's just punctuation.

Kevin Miller: 03:15

I think people can tell that you're getting it like we're doing it. And I appreciate that because you're just real folks. And you know the thing with his story that it's very much like somebody sharing their story when we talked about that last week, is that nobody engages in conversation and storytelling in a canned, boom, firm format. It's fluid, right? And that's true in our story when we're telling our story. Number one, you really do need to remember and be able to communicate concisely and all that stuff without christianese. What your life was before Jesus, how you met Jesus, and what it's been like since then. But when you're talking to somebody, you're intercepting their life where they're at. So it's just not a canned sales pitch at all. Nothing like that. Well, it's the same way in my mind, with God's story, with his story. There have been some really great, helpful beneficial resources that help you communicate effectively, what God says about himself, what he says about his relationship with us, and everything. There's been the four spiritual laws and do verses done in a bridge illustration, the morality ladder and the big story by James Chong and I'm going after James Chong because he's so good. And I would really love to have him on the show. But I'll tell you, the Bible is the most powerful life-changing, simply put, God knows how to write a Bible through obedient scribes. There's just a lot of ways to approach it. So we don't judge the way individuals do it with tracks or with an approach that they learned like the Romans wrote.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 04:54

What you said too and just pointing out that there was all these different scribes and as you describe them. They weren't all scribes. Some of them were shepherds, they were Kings, there was people that barely knew how to write. They all have when you study the Word, you can see, they all have a different flavor and style. But the truth was consistent throughout the books. And that's what's amazing. And so I think when we think about us sharing God's story, we remember that, hey, you're not going to be all the flavors, you're not going to hit all the stuff. You're one part of that. You want to have consistency as far as what are the basic essential truth, but you might not be the one to bring all of that in one moment. Because part of sharing his stories, we don't always have to do the whole story every time. Sometimes it's just sharing one little part that gets them one step closer.

Kevin Miller: 05:53

Before we started, you shared about talking to a young person about the Big Bang, and it was beautiful. It was absolutely beautiful. And was enlightening, and revolutionary and her thought pattern and everything. And what I really appreciate too two things. One is that science and God are not in a war. It's amazing when science catches up with God. And the other thing that was so important is that you shared that fact that was important to share with her, that portion of God's story out of relationship with her, out of caring about her, out of being sensitive. It was great.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 06:36

I didn't know you were gonna go there right now, but I'll good share. So basically, I help at Junior High group on Friday nights, and a new girl had come with her friend and we do a prayer circle. So we had kind of done that. And then one of our other leaders just was kind of talking to her with several of us, and just kind of asking this new person, hey, what do you know about Christianity, she didn't really know anything. And so this other leader actually offered to share with her what Christianity is and what it's about and about Jesus. And so did that in a couple minutes. And that was really cool. And then I actually followed her and her friend out because I just wanted to get a read and more of a gauge. And I like talking to people a little bit more. And partially was because this girl had revealed that she was an atheist in this little conversation about what Christianity was. And so when we went outside to our next stage of the night, and I was just talking to them, and this girl started opening up to me, and I was sharing some other more deeper things with her a little bit. And it was really cool. And I ended up asking her hey, so what did you think of all that? What did you think of God? And I know you said, you're an atheist. And what makes you say that? And she was like, well, I've grown up learning evolution, and I believe in the big bang. And I said, oh, well, I believe in the big bang, too. She kind of looks at me. And I said, yeah, can I share with you what that means to me? And she said, sure. And so I said, okay, well, I learned a couple years ago that there's a lot of scientists that believe that the universe was started off of a sound wave. And they've actually seen that the whole universe is held together by sound, but they believe that there was an initial explosion of sound at the beginning that created everything. And I said that sounds like the big bang to me. And she went, yeah, that sounds like that to me, too. And I said, well, cool. Well, the Bible says this, it says that in the beginning, there was God. And God said, let there be light. And her eyes got kind of big. And I said that sounds like a big bang to me. And she went, yeah. And so we had this moment where maybe she's still an atheist, I don't know, there was a lot of other cool things that happened. But this big wall to her suddenly came crumbling down. And not only that, but we both saw that, hey, we're not as far apart as we think we are. We actually believe a very similar thing, just the source of it, the thing is different. But her brain was going fireworks all off because she believes in science. And she believes in this other thing. And now here's this part of the Bible that it matches with science and what she believes and so now, the Bible is not so far from her, Gods not so far from her. Because she actually is seeking truth.

Kevin Miller: 09:47

Yeah, I love that story. It's important. When we talk about 1st Peter 3:15, which will come up, you're in there, right? Being prepared. Both of us believe that so much of being prepared is the condition of your heart and being ready, being prepared to love people and serve people and speak to people about the love of God. But there's another part of preparation in that, the word of God. So although there's a bunch of different ways to do it, and on our website, that part of the resources that we have are some of those resources. Some things that Bill Hybels done way back with Contagious Christianity, and all of that, they really are helpful. They really are good tools. But there's so many different ways to do it. But I wanted to go over with everybody, some essentials, at least for me, and they'll have others and you may have some different ones. The first essential for me that's really, really important is that the Bible can speak for itself. But you have to know where it is and how to do it. So be reading your Bible, get in there. Romans road is marked in my Bible. I have sat down with people when it is appropriate, when they've asked, well, what does the Bible say? And you start, you know, in Romans 6, then it goes to another verse, and another verse and another verse, and Paul does a really magnificent job of spelling out the gospel. And then there's some other essentials. And I think that you were talking to me about that.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 11:11

Yes. So is there magic words? Is there magic theological things that we have to give people every single time we're sharing Jesus with them?

Kevin Miller: 11:22

Well, the fact that you use the word magic right off the bat, it makes a pretty easy, no, that's how I feel. There isn't a formula... I had a small group, a little small group, and it was on sharing your faith. And there was a woman in there that was absolutely shocked, in really refreshing way, that she had gone to school to learn, she had gone to evangelism school. But that there was another way. And so that's my answer. And I think what's really important to answer your question is that you need to speak their language. Again, if you go to a foreign country, it's going to be really tricky. If you've got no Spanish and they have no English, and there's still a way to do it. They've got that little color book that you can walk through that one's the interesting. But the thing is, is that you have to really think more about the person. Well, let's dig into some of the essentials that I think, and then people can get back to us and say, hey, you missed that.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 12:13

In the midst of you speaking to them, the cool thing about God and about the gospel is that because He created us in His image, there is so much appeal in God's story. Because he made us and so when you can communicate it in a way that's simple and human, it's appealing to everybody. And because God's story of him coming to us, I hear that so often, it's so true from all sorts of pastors, that the biggest difference of Christianity is that God came to us. And that is massively appealing to whoever you're talking to. But you have to communicate it in a way that, like you said, is in their language, not with christianese words all over the place or these big theological terms. They don't communicate that. But when you get down to the simple part, it's appealing.

Kevin Miller: 13:12

We told the folks that we're talking with right now that this was for non-evangelists. This is for regular folks. There's other great, great resources for theologians and friends of mine. And I have a lot of respect for them, we hope to have them on the show. But we're talking to people who are talking to people like themselves, for the most part. One thing that I think is very essential, and it gives a certain contentment and peace for the Christian who's trying to get into this conversation, is what it says in Hebrews 11. It says that you have to believe that God is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So God wants you to find him. Like you said, God sent Jesus to seek and to save that which was lost. He sent Jesus and Jesus willingly raised his hand and said, boom, I'll go, here we go. The thing that was lost was relationship with God, and the authority that Christians can walk in and the joy and the freedom and I think that's the biggest part of me sharing what I'm just picking, you know if you get a movie of me talking about Jesus to somebody. I know really cool people Sarah Mayne, Matt Hall. I mean, it could be a long list. Cool people that I would like to introduce people to. You've got to know this person. We have people like that, right? And sometimes they can act and its relationship and that's beautiful. Well, God, the person that created you and loves you so much, and desires you sent his son for you, sacrificed for you. He wants to have relationship with you. And it's beautiful. And like John said, what we've seen, what we felt, what we know, we want to share with you because we want you to have the joy that we have. That is exactly how I feel. That is the main point to me. I've got something that has been so wonderful in my life and the lives of so many people. A billion, I don't know.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 15:06

Off of that, something that really encourages me when you have a conversation with somebody, and maybe it didn't go so well. Or maybe you walk away and you're like, oh, shoot, I should have said this. And I didn't say that, and oh my goodness. But you can trust that if that person is really seeking after truth, that God in Him, they're going to connect. I've had people in the last couple months that I've met, and it's like, I walk away, and I felt like maybe I could have done a better job. But I can see God is looking for them. And I can see that they are looking for truth, they are looking for hope. And that will never really lead them to God if they keep going down that path. Not that it's going to be perfect, and that they're not going to go through stuff or maybe get off in certain ways. But if that's really what they're going after, they're going to connect.

Kevin Miller: 15:59

I think it's one of the key essential points that I didn't even write down. But I believe with all of my heart. When we understand that we're not taking Jesus to someone that Jesus already went ahead and already has done some groundwork here. And other faithful believers have been in people's lives speaking the truth and loving them together. I'll give you an interesting example, at least to me. I've got a buddy, and somehow he found himself in a long car ride with some people who were very fervent about sharing hell, and the tribulation, and what it would be like for people who didn't know Jesus. They went into detail, you can say they literally scared the hell out of him. So he got back, and he saw me and he goes, hey, you're a pastor, right? Yeah. Well, you can get people saved then, right? Well, I don't really think it exactly works that way but let's talk. We get together, and those people have done something that I probably never would have done, that way at least. So the Holy Spirit's working on this, other Christians have been working on this. So relax, do your part. Some of the people listening, have heard of the Engel scale, take your part of the Engel scale, and just do your role and that's what the deal is because God gets people saved. You just get the joy, the incredible adventure of being in on it sometimes, if you're intentional about it. Got another essential. It's Jesus. Yes.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 17:36

Wait, who?

Kevin Miller: 17:37

I don't think a magic word is really the best way to describe it. But you know what? It's so clear in the Word of God. Jesus says, when you saw me, you saw the Father. He is the perfect representation of the Father. You keep the focus on Jesus, on how he lived his life, on why he came and what he accomplished, and what he will do. Because he just spent everything for us. Before we liked him before we were all cleaned up and goody goody or whatever, while we were acting like his enemy, Jesus did that. And I think that that will keep it on the essentials when you continue to focus on Jesus.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 18:19

Yeah. And I think one thing I've realized is that there's a good amount of knowing around Jesus, at least in America. Not completely, but there's a lot of people they've heard of Jesus, they know of Jesus. But what's different when we as Christian, talk about Jesus is that we see that Jesus is God. That he wasn't just a man, he wasn't just a great teacher, he wasn't just a great leader. And that's very important. And I've had some really amazing moments. And I've heard about other people having these amazing moments, when they just point out the simple fact that, hey, Jesus is God. That sometimes flips on light switches for people. And so I think when you're talking about Jesus, it is important that you gauge what the person thinks about Jesus if you've been listening to them well. And then you can share who you see Jesus as because sometimes that flips on light switches.

Kevin Miller: 19:22

It really does. And it's the hugest issue. Because people, as we all know, will think that Jesus was really good teacher, he was really a good man, maybe you'll give him a profit. You know, give him that roll in more than a carpenter is a simple way. He either was a liar or a lunatic or Lord. And the fact that Jesus very clearly said, I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. No one gets to the Father but by me. Now, in this all-inclusive culture that we live in, that sounds pretty harsh. But when you combine the love and the compassion of Jesus and see his life, he's not the kind of guy when he was walking around, that was claiming fame and glory and all of that. I had a friend in college who met a really cute Buddhist girl, and he wanted to date her. He didn't have the best of intentions, he wanted to date the Buddhist girl. So he was telling me how he was going to be a Buddhist. Now, I could have argued with it right off the bat.

Kevin Miller: 19:25

And your friend wasn't a Christian is that correct?

Kevin Miller: 19:37

He grew up Baptist and Catholic as a background, but he didn't have a relationship with the Lord. But he was a sincere guy, except maybe in this relationship, trying to claim Buddhism so he could date somebody. He was a sincere person who really was seeking the truth. We were really, really close. We were best friends for a long, long time. And so I wasn't like, red Alert, red Alert, my friend has become a Buddhist or whatever. I've got good friends that are Buddhists. But I don't think that every road leads to God. But if you diligently seek them, like we said, they will be enlightened, they will get the truth of Jesus Christ. And you just stay with them, and you speak the truth to them, and you love them, and you get that opportunity. So it isn't like, don't be terrified. People that are genuinely seeking.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 21:12

You can trust people to God like we've said before, is that it's not our job to save people. It's God's job. And I think you've shared before that verse about how the Word says that Jesus draws all men to himself. And I just love that picture, me personally learning that and realizing that brought so much freedom. And it brought so much peace.

Kevin Miller: 21:35

Yeah, it's true. And it's not because there aren't difficulties or challenges or heartbreak or that when you're talking about relationships with people about something that's so important, but the peace and the contentment is that God is God, and we are not. And if we do our job, he'll do his job. And it's a wonderful, wonderful thing. And people come into relationship with Jesus all the time. It's just amazing. It's amazing. Sarah, we've done the best we can I think just to cover some essentials, and everything in this [crosstalk: 22:07]

Sarah Marie Mayne: 22:07

We're quickly covering them. We're gonna dive into them more. And we also want to, and let us know if you're listening right now, let us know if you want us or would be interested in us kind of breaking down just some points in how to speak to certain types of people, like a Buddhist. We would love to kind of dive into those things. I also think we talked about the other day, how sometimes there's a difference between the generations. I'm a millennial.

Kevin Miller: 22:36

And I'm not.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 22:37

Right. And so some of the things of communication that worked a little better with your generation, they don't work as well with my generation, because our initial worldview is different.

Kevin Miller: 22:50

But the truth is the truth and it's the way you communicate it. And it is definitely another episode because we want to keep it short. Because I know my friends that listen to this when they run, they don't want to run much further. I don't know, I think folks have caught on by now. We intend on doing this for a while. This isn't for the short term, and because it's been so wonderful that's even easier, right? But we've got people they've heard interviews and stuff. And there's going to be more, people that know more about us than us. And one of the things I talk to you about that I want to do is I just want to give away resources when I can or steer people to it. And on this episode one, I think that we're really give more peace and get more people encouraged to get engaged, is a book by Mark Middleburg. Once again, if your Mark Middleburg's best friend call him and say he should be on this show. One of the many books that Mark has written is The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask With Answers. And he just does a magnificent job, did great research and people told them this is the one I'm terrified. Why are Christians so judgmental? Or why trust the Bible, it's full of miss and on and on and on. Responses to that, logical simple responses to that are in here. And I want to give it away to a dozen people.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 24:08

All right, go on our Instagram, there will be a post on the Monday that you're listening to this on, on the release day, we're going to put a picture of the book, tag three friends because we want other people to know and you will be entered into a drawing to get one of these books.

Kevin Miller: 24:23

There we go. That sounds good. Right on.

Sarah Marie Mayne: 24:26

Oh, I forgot to say what the Instagram is.

Kevin Miller: 24:28

Don't they know by now?

Sarah Marie Mayne: 24:30

Hopefully, you should know but it's @sent_315. It's in the show notes.

Kevin Miller: 24:35

There you go. And I think everyone should really consider themselves sent.