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It's a funny thing. People are afraid to talk to us about
God, and we're afraid to talk to them. But the fact remains,
many people want to talk about God and religion.
In a poll submitted by Jerry De Luca to Preaching Today,
topics of conversation in a typical week ranked as follows:
- Movies or television programs: 66%.
- Money: 57%.
- Sports: 55%.
- Politics: 51%.
- Parenting: 50%.
- Moral issues or situations: 49%.
- Spiritual issues and beliefs: 42%.
In a poll in the 2001 Roper Youth Report, more kids and
teenagers are interested in church in a given week than
surfing the Web, watching a movie, hanging out at parties,
or going to the mall.
- 53% of respondents ranked religion and spirituality
among their top personal interests.
- 28% reported participating in church groups;
by comparison, just 20% played after-school sports.
- 58% said churches and religious groups are an
important influence on their moral values.
We Have an Excellent Opportunity
We have an opportunity that we cannot neglect. As the old
saying goes, we must strike while the iron is hot!
The saying, strike while the iron is hot comes
from a blacksmith's work. The smith can shape iron by striking
it with a hammer when it's hot. But if the iron is cool,
it's impossible for the smith to do his work.
The meaning of the expression is, take advantage of favorable
circumstances, while they're favorable.
Give People What They Want -- Talk About God
As Christians, we must take advantage of favorable circumstances.
When people are inclined to talk about God (for whatever
reason), we need to take advantage of the opportunity.
Paul prayed for open doors (favorable circumstances to
talk about God), then took advantage of them.
- "Devote yourselves to prayer . . . praying at the
same time for us as well, that God will open up to us
a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery
of Christ . . . that I may make it clear in the way I
ought to speak" (Col. 4:2-4).
And he teaches us to do the same, following his example.
- "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making
the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be
with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you
will know how you should respond to each person" (Col.
4:5-6).
So it's our great privilege to walk through the open door
God has presented to us, and give people what they want
-- talk about God.
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