THE ALPHABET OF SUCCESS
A - F
A
You succeed if trust is built.
B
You succeed if a relationship is built or strengthened.
C
You succeed if your friend
is able to articulate
their misgivings,
reasons for unbelief,
personal grudges
against religion, etc.
D
You succeed if a single belief you have is understood by your friend.
E
You succeed if your friend moves even an inch from his/her current position.
F
You succeed if even one
of your questions or statements
is planted in the memory of your friend (think a stick in the spokes of your bicycle’s front tire or perhaps,
at times, a bomb that later goes
off in your friend’s brain).
G - L
G
You succeed, when after ending
the conversation or discussion,
you climb into your car
and rehash what was said, and
you realize you didn’t even once
try to win
– you stuck to persuasion.
H
You succeed,
if under pressure,
you were listening,
really listening to your friend and were not busy formulating an answer before he/she finished speaking.
(This normally takes time.)
I
You succeed, when upon review,
you were authentic
60% of the time.
J
You succeed, when upon review,
you truly listened,
even for scattered moments, remembering that he/she has an immortal soul and that it is at stake. Your words and your
thoughtfulness truly matter.
K
You succeed when
a conversation blossoms
into a discussion.
L
You
succeed…..
if you don’t talk
over your friend.
M - Q
You succeed if you are in a group discussion, and you listen and digest what is said and by whom without panicking.
M
You succeed if your friend learns to see you as anything but an opponent.
P
You succeed if you remember to ask your friend to “define” words that you would normally think require no defining. I’m referring to words like faith, Christian, Darwinism, change, etc. If you hear phrases such as big bang, spontaneous generation, etc, be sure to ask for clarification.
O
You succeed if you are able
to ask a question or make a point
that strikes a blow to your
discussion partner’s foundation;
a foundational belief I mean, one
which you ascertained by listening.
This is especially exciting
if a question you asked helped
your friend ascertain what
a foundational belief for them is.
Q
N
R - V
You succeed if you even once can say, “You know I’ve never really looked at it from that angle.” It strengthens your friend for further discussion.
R
You succeed if you
find you care more about
your friend’s comfort level
than your own.
U
You succeed if you remember,
in the middle of a conversation
or a discussion,
that you aren’t there to win
- therefore, you can’t lose!
A discussion is more like two friends (includes new friends)
just playing catch with a baseball
on an empty diamond.
T
You succeed if you ferret out
what the source of their info is about anything, including the Celtics.
You see, for the average friend,
the source of his/her info is identical to the source of their opinion,
be it Professor Doo-Wah Diddy-Diddy, friends, a book by Nietzsche,
or Google.
V
S
You succeed if you can once say, “help me understand
- you will have to shed
a little light on that for me, please.
I’m pretty ignorant about ____”
You fill in the blank.
This gives courage to your friend, and he/she needs it.
W - Z
W
You succeed if you remember and truly believe that
you are only a light-giver,
not a life-giver
(God alone can do that).
X
You succeed, even if your conversation or discussion
serves only to harden your friend. Yes, it is your place to bring light, and if a man chooses to put his hands over his eyes to shut the light out, it is natural, and
the light becomes an instrument for increasing his darkness. Nevertheless, your faithfulness will be rewarded.
Remember, only God can, by
the work of the Holy Spirit,
open your friend’s eyes to see the truth. You are living proof,
in fact, that He can do
so if you are a Christian.
Y
Z
You succeed if,
during your conversation or discussion, you recall that your friend,
the one with the precious soul,
is a fallen human being, one who loves his/her sin and his/her darkness.
Go in God’s grace and power and succeed: fear no man, no mob , and no moment for God will be with you.
You succeed and are rewarded by God when you come back home and are scarred up. Scarred up folks in heaven are seen to be the most beautiful.
After all, the Master was flogged and punched and blood ran down His cheek thanks to His crown of thorns - and His scars were the price love paid for you.
