Bespoke Faith Conversations

Well over 100 years of industrialisation has conditioned us to think in terms of systems and easily repeatable processes. In short we think everything can be 'shrink-wrapped'. This has affected the way we think about helping people towards faith in Jesus through our conversations: we assume there must be some system, a shrink-wrapped off-the-shelf package that will get any person over the line of faith. Christians believe that if we can just learn approach X or technique Y, then all will fall into place in our evangelism.

The reality of course is not so straight-forward. Each person is an individual with their own story-so-far, their own unique background & formation that affects their thinking, and thus their own path. A package that worked so well for one person simply may not be the right thing for someone else.

The available courses for helping people discover Christian faith have their place, and have been useful for some decades now ... but we should also realise the need for bespoke faith conversations - dialogue that listens to the person and tailors the approach to make a truly spiritual conversation for them.

Fortunately the gospel accounts give us a great examples of Jesus taking the bespoke route. Take John chapter 3 and 4 for example. In chapter 3 he is met by Nicodemus, a Jewish Pharisee coming with a readiness to explore. Jesus challenges him with the difference between 'head knowledge' and 'heart knowledge', the need to not simply be religious but to be spiritually re-born. Then in chapter 4 he has another 1 to 1 conversation - this time with a Samaritan woman. Again Jesus challenges, but on a completely different approach - the provision of abundant spiritual resources that He can give, that can include her.

What would have happened if Jesus had just one fixed programme of episodes that he used in strict lock-step with each person?

In both cases Jesus raised the conversation from the physical up to the spiritual, and asserted how He is connected to the spiritual in a way never known before. But the starting points and the way the conversations panned out were totally different - Jesus took a bespoke approach for each.

Each needed acute attention to who the person in front of him was - their back-story, their already acquired knowledge and expectations. Those starting points weren't to be ignored, or simply run over by some 'believe-this-truth' steam roller. No - Jesus took them as genuine in their own right, but nevertheless bases from which He could challenge. The challenge was suited to the person, cast uniquely for them to (potentially) respond to.

We need to learn to do the same ... which is why putting listening ahead of our temptation to download is so important. A double-listening: to the person and to the Spirit will prove a potent combination, since it will enable us to journey with the person right from their own starting point. The Discovery Bible Study approach for those who are willing to sit down and explore then proves useful compared to a set course, because you have the freedom to choose which passages you think best fits the person's starting point and progress.

Of course bespoke approaches are more costly and resource intensive (just like in physical manufacturing) ... but the eventual quality and elegance is so much higher. Can the church afford this cost? Yes, if every believer is willing to make themselves available for the unique conversations that God can put in their path.