Breakfast with a Friend and Mentor

Yesterday, I drove an hour north of my home for an early lunch with Tom Ash a personal friend and mentor, at a “Cracker Barrel” restaurant. Within 30 seconds of being seated (NO exaggeration!) something that would take me 30 minutes or more, he had the name, marital status and important insight into the spiritual condition and struggle of our server! Gloria [not her real name] is the single parent of a 13 year old son. She currently lives with her parents and has recently been released from a rehabilitation facility, where she was treated for an addiction. And, not knowing who or what we were (pastors), when asked about her marital status, blurted out, “The only person I’m interested in marrying is the one God will choose for me. I won’t be marrying the wrong person again!”

Tom’s listening skills and approach to initiating conversation challenged me. After listening to more of Gloria’s story, he said to me, “Ed, most people want to talk about themselves and will do that if you give them a chance. When I talk to people I assume they want to tell me about themselves, so I open conversation with simple questions.” Subsequently we learned Gloria had trusted Christ as her Lord and Savior, but needed a church home, and a Christ centered support group. I encouraged her to find a church with a Celebrate Recovery program, something with which both Tom and I have had direct and positive experiences. Gloria then hugged us both and said, “I had a rough start this morning, but now know that God sent you here for me.”

The bottom line on this was being reminded of what discipleship is all about. Making disciples is about bringing people from where they are to where they need to be in Christ, and that requires getting to know them first. And maybe, just maybe, it “ain’t all that hard.”