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    Okay, so I choked

    Posted on Wednesday 22 April 2009 by Greg @ 8:06 pm
    Filed under: Rants

    I blew an opportunity.

    I’ve been sharing my faith for 32 years and I totally choked in a McDonald’s the other day. Two guys that looked like they could be UFC fighters were hanging out in the play place. Out of the blue Jeremy, my 8 year old, told me that I should go tell them the gospel.

    The problem was that there they had their kids around them (including a baby) and they didn’t look like they wanted to chit chat to anybody else but each other. To add to my challenge I’ve been struggling through the whole relational/relentless aspect of cold turkey evangelism. As Jeremy prodded me I was wondering how to turn this potential cold turkey interuption into warm turkey opportunity. But instead of cold or warm turkey I turned chicken.

    Jeremy warned me that he was going to tell the Dare 2 Share teens that I was too afraid to share my faith. I reminded him that I had a degree in guilt and that he couldn’t intimidate me. But he just kept saying, “But they need Jesus daddy.”

    I tried to explain to him that this wasn’t the right time.

    “But they need Jesus daddy.”

    How can you say no to that? So I tried to talk to the two tattoed dudes. I approached them and started small talking. They were cordial enough but they didn’t look like they wanted to be interrupted. So I flamed out and wished them a good day.

    Yes, I choked. I fully admit it. I thought I’d tell you before Jeremy did.

    And now I will go spank him.

    Signed, Greg Stier
    14 Comments

    14 Comments for 'Okay, so I choked'

    1. On April 22, 2009 @ 8:12 pm adam mclane said:
      • Thanks for making the rest of us feel better. I mean, I try to share my faith with my co-workers all the time at YS… but it turns out they already know Jesus.

        Seriously though, a missed opportunity here and there did wonders for DL Moody, didn’t it?

        [Reply to this comment]

        Greg Stier Reply:
        April 23rd, 2009 at 7:18 am

        You are right! D.L. Moody had the great Chicago fire to remind him…all I have is an 8 year old. Hey, saw the YS podcast. thanks for letting me do that!

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to adam mclane's comment

    2. On April 23, 2009 @ 7:03 am karyn said:
      • It’s okay Greg. I always choke when sharing my faith with people that i am not comftorble around. You choking just reminds us all that we are only human and we all fall down sometimes.

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to karyn's comment

    3. On April 23, 2009 @ 7:37 am 82Ryguy said:
      • I love the fact that you even see this a “blew it” moment. I don’t need to tell you that most people wouldn’t even consider sharing their faith with a stranger, let alone with men that have arms thicker than my thighs. That spurs me on to have Christ’s mindset more and to get out there and “shred the gnar.”

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to 82Ryguy's comment

    4. On April 23, 2009 @ 8:46 am John Garay said:
      • I love you Greg!!!!… Thanks for being real…. It’s good to know that our spiritual “Hero’s” are just as human as we are… Blessings to you and your familia!!!

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to John Garay's comment

    5. On April 23, 2009 @ 11:58 am Brian said:
      • There are times when I’ve totally messed up a chance to tell someone about Jesus and each time he uses it to teach me something I did know or never saw before.

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to Brian's comment

    6. On April 23, 2009 @ 3:30 pm Will said:
      • Man, I LOVE that Jeremy!
        If my boys had “Dare 2 Share”d me, I would have had to do it, as you did, Greg. Then, while thanking God for His Presence in my son, I would proceed to blame the son who dared me when the UFC guys gave me the ‘let’s practice our tringle choke on the pencil-neck geek’ look. Jeremy’s cuteness factor whould save you on that one.

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to Will's comment

    7. On April 23, 2009 @ 5:15 pm Abbie said:
      • I’ve been struggling a little with the whole cold-turkey evangelism too. Really relying on that God’s wisdom (JESUS) will lead me in those opportunities. Ephesians 1:30…totally helpful and God really opened my eyes on that verse.

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to Abbie's comment

    8. On April 23, 2009 @ 11:49 pm Landon McAllister said:
      • You always seem to surprise me. You are a real person and I love that about you. I am like that too, but we can’t keep kicking ourselves. We can just learn from what God teaches us through these circumstances. I like your story about prayer,(the wimpy prayers lol) I guess we need to learn from that for evangelism. Like you say “we have 20 minutes”. We are in it together!
        PS: Thanks for being at Epicenter!

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to Landon McAllister's comment

    9. On April 24, 2009 @ 6:34 am Eddie said:
      • “But Jeremy, I’m not scared, this is YOUR oportunity to show me what you’ve got. I was waiting to see what YOU were going to do. I do it all the time… and you’ve been doing so well I thought this was a chance for you to take it to the next level. Now go ahead, I’ll be waiting right over here… in the car… with the engine running…”

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to Eddie's comment

    10. On April 24, 2009 @ 4:09 pm Amanda said:
      • Hey not all of us are perfect. At least you have shared the gospel to tonz of other people.

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to Amanda's comment

    11. On April 29, 2009 @ 9:52 am jeremy zach said:
      • Greg,

        I have a honest question for you, but I don’t want to undermine your call and your vision.
        When we don’t share our faith or “when we blow it”……do you think God wants us to feel this sense of guilt and shame?

        I think we put too much pressure on ourselves that God needs us to share our faith all the time. What if God wanted you to just stand there and listen? What if God wanted you to talk to them, just to get to know them? Or go buy them a ice cream cone?

        It is my belief that sharing our faith from a dare or obligation isn’t necessarily the healthiest way to bring people into the Kingdom of God. If someone is doing something out of an obligation, how genuine and authentic do you think the response will be?
        Would if these two ultimate fighters asked you: Greg why did you tell me about Jesus? Your answer would have been: Well……my son dared me to do it. How do you think these two guys would feel?

        I think sometimes the cold turkey approach ends in a cold and closed response. Interpersonal communication theory supports this idea and suggests for other ways to persuade people.

        Bottom line I think when Jesus commands His disciples to share the good news, He wants them to share out of a genuine posture, not out of a dare.

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to jeremy zach's comment

    12. On April 30, 2009 @ 9:54 am Greg said:
      • Good point. Sharing Christ out of a “dare” is probably not the best motivation. But we do have an obligation. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:16-17, “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.”

        I think the best way is natural conversation that leads to the gospel. That’s what Jesus did in John 4. So instead of cold turkey sandwiches it was warmed turkey…or, well, you get the idea.

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to Greg's comment

    13. On May 6, 2009 @ 8:36 am Amy said:
      • Just out of curiosity, how do you know those two guys didn’t know Jesus Christ and were just like you: Taking a day off with their kids? Is it because of how they looked? I’m not asking to be rude. I’m curious if we judge too often or if it’s our duty to stop every person we see and tell them of Jesus. Which is perfectly great. But I know not everyone feels that way, either.

        [Reply to this comment]

      • Permalink to Amy's comment

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