Everyday Teaching (6)

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
John 4:26

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In His conversation with the woman at the well, Jesus commanded the teaching moment and took the conversation where He wanted to go. We can learn to do this as well, whether we’re trying to bear witness to an unsaved friend or colleague, or simply helping some Christian friend go a little deeper with the Lord. Having started the conversation, Jesus quickly proceeded to introduce the unseen realm and to direct the conversation toward a more serious consideration of spiritual matters. And all the while, Jesus knew exactly where He was going with this conversation. Sooner or later, He would bring this teaching moment around to Himself.

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Jesus is the most important topic, the central thread of every teaching moment. We want unbelievers to consider Him, and we want our Christian friends to go deeper with Him. Only Jesus can bring real meaning, purpose, direction, and life to the people we meet each day in the as-you-are-goings of our lives. So, from the beginning of our teaching moment, we need to think about ways of guiding the conversation toward the center of all things, toward Jesus. Now, this doesn’t mean that every conversation needs to be a complete Gospel presentation. Not at all. Just getting someone to think about Jesus lays down a plank in the bridge we’re building that we can pick up on again at some later time. But it is the most loving thing that we can do to point others – saved or unsaved – to the One Who is making all things new in our lives.

Again, you won’t find many people who have no respect at all for Jesus. Even the most rabid unbeliever will probably admit that, if Jesus really lived, He was a remarkable person. Adjust your point of contact with the student in your teaching moment to where he or she is, where you find them. There are plenty of things about Jesus that can begin to make that essential connection to the center. We don’t always have to start with His death on the cross or second coming in order to inject the Name and presence of Jesus into our conversations. Look for a realistic connecting point, and then begin to build your conversation toward the center from there.

You should have your personal testimony ready – and ready to adjust as needed – to every situation. Even when you’re talking with believers it’s important to be able to keep Jesus in the focus, and you can do this by sharing something that Jesus has taught you or done in your life of late. Even pointing to a Scripture that clearly talks about Jesus can help to focus other believers on Him and what He may want to do in our lives. With unbelievers you can use your own testimony to bring Jesus into the teaching moment, provided you use a part of your testimony that will connect with the unbeliever. This might require you to spend more time in prayer each day, rehearsing your testimony with the Lord, until you see more clearly all the many good things He has done and is doing in your life.

Paul used his own personal testimony freely and often in the Book of Acts and in his epistles. He knew that only Jesus Christ can change lives, only Jesus Christ is the altogether lovely and majestic One, only Jesus Christ can command the necessary wonder and adoration that lead men to forsake their old ways of living and take up their crosses in pursuit of Jesus. So the better we become at injecting Jesus into a conversation, at precisely the relevant point, the better we will be in fulfilling our callings to be witnesses and make disciples.

Everyday Teaching