And this leads me to my top 5 ways to kill a deep spiritual conversation:
1. Throw in a trite cliche of positive thinking.
Some of these are more than obvious. Others may break a commandment.
- "Prayer is key."
- "God will work it out."
- "We just need to love."
2. On the premise of "we shouldn't judge," refuse to call sin sin.
Who are you to judge? Well, if you're a believer, we are to judge other believers in love--with truth, humility, and support. To ignore wrongs is to fail that brother or sister. To cower from confrontation is to fall short of obedience.
3. Play "the God card."
If you have a strong conviction that God wants you to do something, the Bible will support that--through principle if not through specifics--so dig into the Word and prove your case. If you don't want to discuss your personal decisions, just say so, but don't claim God's supernatural calling as a way to elevate yourself above conversation. This card can take a few forms:
- "God is calling me to do this."
- "I'm doing this for God."
- "I don't feel led by God."
The Bible has clear rules to follow. His will is evident and recorded. If your "special calling" skirts around any of the Word's truths, then you are deceiving yourself and others. By playing "the God card," you close the discussion and alienate yourself from being sharpened by Christian friends. The card really reads, "My mind is made up. I'm more spiritual than you. Let's drop it."
4. Ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
Does He live within you? Do you let Him nudge your soul? Are you sensitive to His whisper and obedient to His urging? Don't quench the Holy Spirit! If He tells you to speak, He is obviously involved and will help you to voice truth.
5. Give up because it's too theological.
"How many of us have gone to seminary? Oh, none? Then we obviously can't find the truth. Let's wait until we get to heaven."
God gave us His Word! How dare we assume He will not help us read it? Of course, there are quality resources and godly mentors to reference too, but we ourselves are also instructed to study and to search. As we meditate on His truth, we learn the heart of our Father, our faith expands, and our love breaks us free from a life shackled to this world. Theology is why we rejoice; let's embrace it!
Reviving a dead discussion is almost impossible, so please avoid these awful ways to kill spiritual conversations and thereby weaken faith, loosen Christian ties to each other, and forego the blessings of insight and inspiration.
