My sister got married this weekend. Everything about the wedding put Christ in the center, and it was amazing to see two people who have so purposely prepared to model their marriage after Christ and His bride. Something I hadn’t anticipated, however, was the wonderful conversations I’d have with other believers who had come to see my beautiful sister on her wedding day.
Appropriate dinner conversation?
Though the wedding was small, it had no less than 4 pastors and several brass and string players. The dress rehearsal was only about an hour, but it was filled with bustling bodies, shouted orders, and a lot of lost looks as people tried to remember everything. However, the meal afterward more than made up for it. Not just because it was delicious, but my wife had us sit with the brass players.
If I expected any conversation, it was sure to be polite and unexciting. Sure enough, one of the players asked how I was related to the bride and groom, followed by asking what I do for a living. My answer included this blog, and I expected the usual “Oh that’s neat, what do you write about?” followed by the conversation moving on shortly after.
Instead, the response made me sit forward in my seat and fight the urge to brace myself against my own excitement.
“Oh, so I bet you’ve looked at Open Theism. These guys have a paper due on it.” I couldn’t believe it. Who offhandedly mentions a highly controversial belief to a complete stranger? I know he didn’t realize what he’d opened the door to, but a theology term was used and I wasn’t going to miss a chance to discuss it!
What followed was at least 20 minutes spent discussing a range of topics I rarely get to talk about. In fact, our discussion of Open Theism got me excited enough to make it an article this week. We also moved on to the topic of free will, salvation within Islam, missionaries, God’s timelessness, and why Romans 8:28-30 is written in the past tense. It turns out my joy and excitement were clear, not just to my wife who knew I was thrilled to talk theology face-to-face with someone who wasn’t her, but also to my sister who later commented that she walked by the table and could tell I was very excited about whatever I was saying.
Casual chats about abuse and neglect
The next day we arrived early for wedding photos. Coming from a growing church-plant myself, I started talking to my sister’s pastor about his own young church. He was refreshingly open about some struggles he’s had, and gave me some great insight on the difficulty of talking about holiness without making “clean living” a requirement for salvation or even favor with God.
That very honest discussion that led to a topic that always means a lot to me: how people view God in light of their own fathers. We both discussed our own fathers, as well as people we’ve met whose entire view of our Heavenly Father was shaped by the horrible relationship they had with their earthly one. He discussed some counseling he’s done and the surprising number of people whose Christian fathers subjected them to abuse and neglect. Yet again, a Christ-fueled conversation led to a topic for this week.
An encouraging drive after an exhausting day
The day was done and my sister was whisked away to her honeymoon. I caught a ride home with my mother-in-law so I could get my two youngest down to bed (and, honestly, my pain threshold and reached its limit). Once again, conversation turned to a surprising topic that I’ve researched but may have never discussed with another person: why different Bible translations seem to change or remove things.
It was a brief discussion that somehow moved on to Mormonism, and at this point you’d be forgiven for thinking I’m just really bad at understanding how human conversations actually flow. Yet after I got home and got my sleep-averse daughters laid down, I still felt a tinge of excitement at discussing Bible translations with another believer. It’s a topic few people probably think about, but one that I find so fascinating. (You won’t be reading about that this week, but let me know if you’d like an article in the future!)
The blessing of Christian conversation
This weekend’s conversations weren’t expected, nor were they truly abnormal. Whenever I’m able to be around other believers, our link through Christ is often evident. We may have different beliefs or even focuses in how we study, but the Holy Spirit always seems to stir up a fire that gets us talking about things of eternal importance.
That shared joy in our savior, and the lives we live that are centered around Him, bond us more than any hobby or political belief ever could. God made people to need community, and there is no better conversation to have with a person than one that always points to Christ. We become encouraged and challenged, and God is ultimately glorified.
As iron sharpens iron, so a person sharpens his friend. (Proverbs 27:17)
I think I would like that to see that blog post about why different translations remove verses.
!: (that is supposed to be a thumbs up)
Great post. Great encouragement to conversations we should always strive to have. And yes, I’m intrigued to know more on differences in translated verses.
Thanks for the thumbs up, Dave! I’m always encouraged to hear things like this can stir people up.
I’ll see if I can throw together a crash course in Bible translations sometime in the future!