The Journal

Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living." This is my feeble attempt at examining my life.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Have A Conversation, Be On Mission

10:09 AM Posted by Daniel Rose 8 comments
When was the last time you had a real conversation with someone who is different from you? Most of the time our lives are filled with those who are just like us. Christians are called to be on mission. We are to be about proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus and we can not do that apart from conversation.

Conversation is the third step of being on mission in this world. We begin by incarnating a space and build a reputation. As we do, then we will be able to have conversations.

Incarnation –> Reputation –> Conversation –> Confrontation –> Transformation


Conversation is the most natural form of communication. It is the most basic way we engage with other people. We live in a world of social media, text messaging, and email, and all these give the appearance of conversation (the irony of me writing that sentence on this blog is not lost on me). We think we're having conversation through a computer screen. We are not, at least not really.


The art of conversation is something that must be done in person, face to face. What is hard for many of us is that conversation is something requires a commitment beyond 140 characters or a hilarious meme.  When we enter into conversation it is a back and forth between two people who don't necessarily agree on everything. It means that we are going to have conflict.


Conversation and conflict go hand in hand. It is really scary. Most of us try to avoid the back and forth. We do not listen. While the other person is talking we are thinking about the next story we are going to tell.


Here's the thing though, if we don't enter into true conversation with people then we won't get to enter into conflict. Yes, that's right, "get to enter into conflict". It is what changes relationships. If we never enter into conflict with someone then we never move beyond the surface.


Conversation is the most fundamental form of communication that we have. This makes conversation the foundation of relationship and community. Apart from relationship and community we cannot be on mission.


Do you want to be on mission? Then have a conversation. It is that simple.


 

8 comments:

  1. Art of the Conversation | Subversive JourneyOctober 14, 2014 at 3:38 AM

    […] wrote a piece about conversation yesterday. Conversation is an art that I’m trying really hard to teach my children. It just […]

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  2. jtramellOctober 14, 2014 at 12:18 PM

    Good point. Now can I get back to what I was doing?
    Just kidding. Loving this series. Thank bro

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  3. Daniel M. RoseOctober 14, 2014 at 6:32 PM

    Thanks for the kind words bro.

    ReplyDelete
  4. glenntrevisanOctober 14, 2014 at 9:58 PM

    Job-hunting is about trying to win a conversation with a hiring manager. When I can actually converse face to face, I greatly enhance my possibilities to my hired. I'm better in person than on paper, or virtually. That said,  the employment process is set up to screen out conversation likelihood. Might be why so many open positions remain unfilled.

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  5. danielmroseOctober 14, 2014 at 11:11 PM

    glenntrevisan That's really interesting. I had no idea that the employment process did that. It may also be why so many that lack inter-personal skills are hired and thrust upon the masses. I wonder how things would look if the process focused primarily on the face to face.

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  6. danielmroseOctober 14, 2014 at 11:14 PM

    jtramell Thanks for the heads up! I'm glad that the series is connecting with you brother.

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  7. Be Known, Build A Reputation | Subversive JourneyOctober 20, 2014 at 11:49 AM

    […] –> Reputation –> Conversation –> Confrontation –> […]

    ReplyDelete
  8. Live Into The Place | Subversive JourneyOctober 20, 2014 at 11:50 AM

    […] –> Reputation –> Conversation –> Confrontation –> […]

    ReplyDelete