Objectives:
- Understand the role of the Explorer in others spiritual journeys.
- Identify the sound barriers that hinder spiritual conversations, understanding principles for breaking through (especially the first two.)
- Sharpen the skills of listening and question-asking.
- Launch an “exploration” for this coming week.
Section 1: Sharing
Lead a time of sharing thoughts from the weeks devotionals found in Passages: A Devotional Journey and any reports from significant spiritual conversations.
Section 2: What’s Their Story?
Movie Clip: Scene from Amistad
The Steven Spielberg film Amistad chronicles the true story of a group of enslaved Africans who in the spring of 1839, revolt on board the Spanish slave ship La Amistad. Overtaking their captors, they attempt to return to their beloved homeland. The ship is seized off the Eastern Seaboard and the captives are brought to the United States where they are charged with murder and await their fate in prison. An enthralling battle ensues that captures the attention of the entire nation, confronting the very foundation of the American legal system. But for the men and women on trial, it is simply a fight for the basic right of all mankind…freedom. (Adapted from promotional materials for Amistad and the book.)
A turning point in the movie occurs during a conversation between the elderly, eccentric, ex-president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, and Mr. Theodore Joadson, a former African slave who is now working for the abolition of slavery in America. Joadson seeks advice from Adams on how to try the case.
Adams responds,
“When I was an attorney a long time ago, I learned by trial and error, that whoever tells the best story wins. I offer that scrap of wisdom free of charge.”
Joadson appears disappointed with this counsel and turns to leave, when Adams speaks.
- “What is their story?”
- “Why, they are from West Africa.”
- “No, what is their story? Mr. Joadson, you are from where originally?”
- “Why, Georgia, sir.”
- “Georgia?”
- “Yes, sir.”
- “Is that pretty much what you are, your story? No. You’re an ex-slave who has devoted his life to the abolition of slavery and overcoming great obstacles and hardships along the way, I imagine. That’s your story. Isn't it? Hah. You and this young, so-called lawyer have proven you know what they are. They are Africans. Congratulations! What you don’t know, and as far as I can tell, haven’t bothered in the least to discover, is who they are. Right?”
The fate of these African slaves and the power of the movie rests on the ability of Mr. Joadson and the lawyer, Roger Baldwin, to discover and tell their story. How often do we get to the end of an evangelistic presentation and discover “what they are,” they are unbelievers. But we don’t know “who they are.” We don’t know their story.
That is the role of the explorer – to discover who they are and where they are on their journey. Exploring helps us know the context for how to help them on their journey.
Compare and contrast the stories of Nicodemus (John 3:1-21) and the woman at the well (John 4:1-26).
- If all you knew was that Nicodemus was a Jewish teacher of law, what would you assume about him spiritually? Why?
- If all you knew was that the woman was a Samaritan, ostracised from her community for immorality, what would you assume about her spiritually? Why?
- What was actually true of Nicodemus spiritually?
- What was actually true of the woman at the well spiritually?
The key principle: Explorers don’t assume, they enter and discover.
- Our lives are filled with people who are spiritually unknown to us - we have no idea where they are at spiritually.
- Often we make assumptions. But we are often surprised by who is really spiritually open. Sometimes those who we assume are the farthest away, are the most open. (Share an example.)
- As we explore we discover people can be all over the spiritual map…
- We’ll discover Christians – some who are Connected to a community of believers and growing. Some who are Unconnected.
- We’ll discover Seekers – who are searching for God in their spiritual journey
- There are individuals who are Open – they are not actively seeking God, but they are generally open, if approached appropriately, if in a safe environment
- The greatest majority may be the Indifferent. For them it is just not on their radar screen, they aren’t thinking much about it, because it seems irrelevant to how they live.
- Another group is the Resistant. Their resistance is rooted in world-views and beliefs that conflict with the gospel.
- Finally, there are the Hostile. Their hostility could flow out of strong beliefs that conflict with the gospel, but often it flows emotional issues like bad experiences in their past.
All of them need others to enter into their journeys and help them along. But before we can help show them the way to Jesus (the Guide) or get beyond their obstacles (the Builder), or encourage them to keep following Christ (the Mentor), we have to discover where they are at.
Section 3: The Challenge: Sound Barriers
There are natural sound barriers in conversation that must be broken to move deeper into spiritual conversations that lead to Jesus.
- There is a generally Sound Barrier that keeps us from entering into a conversation, particularly with a stranger. It is often easier not to talk than to initiate a conversation.
- But then there is often a second Sound Barrier. It’s easy to have a general conversation, but can be difficult to enter into a spiritual conversation.
- When we are talking about spiritually matters, we can get stuck. There is often another Sound Barrier between general spiritual conversation—about church, God, experiences, etc.—bringing up the gospel.
- Finally, we can be talking about the gospel, but find it difficult to talk about the other person’s response to it.
The roles address different issues related to the Sound Barriers.
- The Explorer – the first two Barriers
- The Guide – the second two
- The Builder – with issues which create hindrances to moving to the next level
- The Mentor – when one has responded positively to Christ
Section 3: The Explorer’s Tools: Listening & Question
Case Study: Tell a witnessing story of you (or someone else) having the privilege of exploring and discovering significant insights into another person’s spiritual journey. The best stories would include a good example of listening and asking questions.
Ask, “What do you observe about the role ______ played in the spiritual journey of _______?”
2. Teach: The Explorer
A. Introduce the Explorer
As we enter into someone’s spiritual journey, we often don’t know where they are or which way they are going. So the first role we play is that of an Explorer.—Entering into unknown territory to discover, learn and understand.
Illustration: When you are at mall and you look on a big map, what do you look for? The big X that tells you that you are here. That helps you figure out where you’ve been and where you want to go.
Spiritually, we want to help others find the big X in their lives. We want to understand they’ve been, where they’re at, so we can help them come to Christ. That is the role of the Explorer.
The two main things an explorer does is to ask questions and listen.
B. Listening: What do you listen for?
Common Ground
What do we share in common? Interests? Experiences? Concerns? Illustrate with story.
Windows to the Soul
A window allows you to see what is on the other side. The closer you get to a window the more you see. Conversations often have “windows to the soul”, which provide a glimpse below the surface. What comments reveal more under the surface? Simplest way to see below the surface is to ask, “How are you?” and mean it. When people sense you are genuinely interested, many will openly share.
Unmet Needs
Life does not work well apart from God’s design. So you can be assured, any one who is not following Christ, has significant unmet needs in their lives. In fact, we have plenty of needs of our own as believers – which gives us more common ground. The gospel isn’t the “cure-all” for all problems—i.e. “believe in Jesus and your problem will go away”. But the gospel fundamentally changes our experience and approach to the issues.
Traces of the Spirit
What is most exciting is when you discover how God is already at work in someone’s life – preparing the way, drawing them person to himself.
Share an example to illustrate.
C. Questions
- General questions to get to know better
- Specific questions to explore spiritually
Highlight a few favourites from the list in their notes or add your own.
D. Spiritual Mapping
Maps chart journeys – past (where one has come from), present (where one is at) and future (where one is going). Public maps are often marked with a “You are here – X”. Conversational maps can explore the past, present and future as well, with the purpose of identifying the “You are here – X” spiritually. Conversations can often serve as a spiritual map, identifying the big “X – You are here.”
Example of questions can include:
The Past Experiences: Where you’ve been
What was your religious background as a child?
What have you tried in your spiritual journey since?
Present Attitudes: Where you are
How has your search left you feeling?
Currently how important is the spiritual area of life to you personally?
Future Direction : Where You’re Going
Do you think you are moving toward God, away from God, or staying about the same?
How would you rate your desire to know God personally?
You can more fully explore each aspect of their spiritual journey by asking more follow-up questions.
Section 4 – Scenario Discussion
Print out the sufficient copies of the scenarios at the ends of these notes. Cut them into strips that can be distributed to the individuals in the session.
Have the members form triplets. Give one person in each triplet a scenario (unknown to the other two.)
Have a second person in each triplet play the role of an explorer.
The third person observes the interaction.
Give 3-4 minutes to let the Explorer ask questions, listening for insights, while the first person plays the role.
At the end of the time, see if the Explorer was able to discern the spiritual journey of the role player.
Ask the Observer what they observed about the process. What was done well? What was clues or opportunities might have been missed?
Section 5 – Preparing for an Expedition
Pray for the opportunity to be an Explorer this week. It may occur in one of two settings:
- By seeking the opportunity to talk with someone that God has placed on your heart to be praying for.
- By being alert to the opportunity with someone he brings into your day unexpectedly.
You might break the sound barrier with something like:
I am involved in a seminar at my church called CoJourners. One aspect involves understanding other people’s spiritual journeys. An assignment is to visit with someone else about their experience. I thought it would be interesting to hear your thoughts, if you are open to it. Could I ask you a few of the questions? You can feel free to share as much or as little as you are comfortable saying.
An alternative would be to ask to get together at another time for coffee and conversation about it. Would you be open to getting together SOMETIME over coffee and sharing about your experience?
Initial Questions could include:
- What would you say is most important to you in life right now?
- How important is the spiritual area of life to you currently?
- What have you tried in your spiritual journey?
- What has your search left you feeling?
- On a scale of 1-10 (1 – low and 10 - high), how strong is your desire to know and experience God in a personal way?
If they are very open or interested, ask them if they would be interested sometime in seeing a brief explanation of how one can know God personally.
CoJourner Workshop Session 2: Scenarios
Photocopy this page so that you have enough scenarios for each person in the class. Feel free to create other common scenarios that might be encountered in your setting.
Have the workshop pair up. Give one person in each pair a scenario description without revealing it to their partner. Instruct them to play the part, adding to it details to make their spiritual journey realistic. Instruct the other person in the pair to be an Explorer, seeking to conversationally discover insights into the partner’s spiritual journey.
Define for the context where the two are casual acquaintances, visiting in a common conversational setting (at a coffee shop, in a student union, resident hall or Greek house lounge, waiting for a child’s sports event, etc.)
-
You are a person who is generally spiritual-minded, but rejected the institutional church as old-fashioned and irrelevant. You have never read the Bible or really understood the gospel.
- You are a person who had been involved in a church as a child, but found it too restricting. Now you are trying out Wicca, but only out of curiosity, not conviction.
- You are a person who had been involved in a youth ministry and come to Christ. However, in college you have gotten caught up in the college lifestyle, started partying lightly, and hanging with non-believing friends. You are spiritually stuck.
- You are a person who was never involved in church as a child. You generally think there is a God, but you don’t think much about him. You are not antagonistic, nor particularly interested.
- You are a person who has been deeply offended by the judgmental attitude of Christians (or at least, those involved in a particular church.) The wound came as the student when you struggled with issues of sexual identity. Now you are bitter against Christianity and embrace a personal but non-Christian spirituality.
- You are a person who has been involved in many different kinds of churches, due to your family moving often. You are generally positive, fear God, but have never understood the gospel.
- You are a person who is trying all the spiritual options. You have read the Bible, the Koran, some Hindu writings, and even tried Buddhism. You are very resistant to “Christian cults” and anything perceived to be one, but open to the major religions.
- You are a person is an agnostic, not knowing if there is a God or not, and not thinking anyone can really know. You generally think science is adequate for knowledge and you are not spiritually minded at all.
- You are a person who has sensed God at work in your life and wants a relationship with God. You are ready to respond, but just need to know how.
- You are a person who is a strong adherent to a Christian denomination, thinking that is all you need for salvation, though in actuality you have not understood or accepted the gospel.
