Interactive Christianity
Connecting the Dots: The interactions of Christ followers that result in making disciples.
by
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Free Preview Getting to know unbelievers The art of listening It was my first Church. I was young and still ignorant of some of the basics of electricity and electrical wiring. The parsonage was furnished with a very old electric dryer. It worked fine and we used it for a couple of years until one day it quit and nothing I could do seemed to get it going. The light still worked so I knew it was getting power. It was old so repair seemed to be a foolish waste of money. We went out and bought a new electric dryer. When we got the new dryer home and all hooked up, we turned it on only to discover that it behaved just like the old one. The light would come on, but he dryer would not operate. Needless to say, we had a different problem. No one seemed to know what to suggest until I talked to a savvy lady business owner who asked me if I had checked the 220 fuses. Sure enough, one was defective. I was getting 110 power to the dryer which operated the light, but did not have the 220 power required for the dryer itself. My ignorance cost me a dryer, which I would not have needed to purchase, but which because it was mine, went with me and served us well for many years. Many, well-meaning Christ sharers, make similar mistakes of ignorance that could easily be avoided if they would learn to do one very simple thing. Listen I was astounded when I read an article in the March 2014 Reader Digest entitled The Psychic, the Novelist, and the $17 Million Scam to discover just how badly some feel the need for someone to listen. This article relates the story that came out in the court proceedings when Rose Marks, a grandmother in her 60’s, a psychic in Manhattan was charged and found guilty of bilking novelist Jude Deveraux, whose books have sold some 60 million copies, out of more than 17 million of her profits. This all started relatively small. How did it continue and escalate to the extent of 17 million? “I kept coming back because she was listening to me. I’ve never been able to get anyone to listen to me,” Deveraux testifies” What would have happened if a Christian associate, neighbor or friend had taken the time to really listen? Who are the persons around you who are desperate for someone to really listen? Yes! We want to share what Christ means in our lives. BUT Before sharing our own story, it is absolutely critical that we discover their story. In order to discover their story, we must learn to listen. The consequence of not listening, are far ranging. Even though we may care greatly, we may come across as being only interested in our own agenda and not caring at all about the other person. Or, we may be answering questions that they have not yet asked themselves and leave them in total confusion. Or, we may be attempting to persuade them to accept Christ, when they have no clue who He is, where He lives, or why they should not start “saving” just like he does. Or, worse, we may totally miss the times when verbal and none verbal cues indicate that our friend has a very significant area of felt need, and we go on about life as if absolutely nothing is going on beyond sports, the latest fashion, and our ingrown toe nail. To miss these types of cues is at best, to perhaps miss an opportunity to show love. At worst we may have missed an opportunity to introduce them to the one who can meet their need. I find myself constantly confronting situations when afterward I wish I had been a better listener. My need to be heard, my agenda, my lack of thoughtfulness of the other person, are all reasons for being distracted, forgetful and experience the need for the check of God’ s Spirit. Very few people are good listeners. We are poor listeners with good reason. While writing is least used, - - - it is most taught. Speaking is next used and it is next taught. Listening is most used, but-----it is least taught.
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About the Book
We are all bombarded with words and images. We are not conscious of most because our subconscious thinking filters them out. Yet too often the church relies almost exclusively on words and images to tell the most important story of all: the good news of Jesus Christ. In His book, Interactive Christianity, John W. Mowat takes us back to the methods and teachings of Jesus Christ Himself, all of which are relational, thus interactive. John examines three different areas of interaction. He believes that it is only when all 3 are healthy that larger numbers of individuals and groups of people can come to ongoing growing relationships with God. Any one of these relationships that are **missing, or out of focus,** will tend to result in either; no birth, stillbirth, or choked birth. Jesus described this in the parable of the seed and soils. John examines **first our interaction with Jesus Christ.** This interaction he believes is foundational to the other two. Many will tend to skip over this believing they have arrived, however this is a mistake. Second, John examines **our interaction with unbelievers.** Some readers want to go to this section and skip the rest. While there is very critical information in this section; readers, especial pastors and teachers need to get the whole picture. Finally, John examines the **believer’s interaction with other believers, as we relate together to each other, and to the unbelieving world around us.** This is a complicated relationship. Learning to love is the greatest ongoing challenge of the Church, yet it is critical to the difference between making decisions and making disciples.
About the Author
After 12 tears of Pastoral ministry, John W. Mowat returned to school while pastoring yet another Church. He graduated Suma Cum Laude in 1983 with a Master’s Degree in Christian ministries from what is now Indiana Wesleyan University. John had one passion when he returned to school. He wanted to understand how God wanted to work with both pastors and lay persons to reach a lost world with the gospel. Thus John turned every course that he took while completing his Masters into a study of this subject; i.e. a course on the book of acts became a study of lay persons and leaders in the book of acts. This culminated in his 150 page Master’s thesis; The Ministry of the Laity in its Social Contact as it Affects Evangelism. Dr. Charles Carter, his thesis adviser; author, missionary, and college professor, told him it should be published. Circumstances, and a sense of God leading eventually thrust John back into the world as a lay person. There while pursuing a living as owner of a construction business, John related to employees, real estate personnel, home owners, bankers, sales people, tenants. John saw life. He was in people’s homes, sometimes for months at a time. He was in their lives. During this time and following, John remained active in church related activities, teaching and preaching in churches of 4 different widely varying denominational backgrounds, areas of the country and size of churches. 15 years of pastoral ministry and a Master’s degree produced John’s Master’s thesis. Another 35 plus years of ministry both in and out the pulpit, as well as 23 with his own construction business have uniquely prepared John to write Interactive Christianity and its accompanying study guide.