Religious Conversations

Are you familiar with http://www.wikihow.com? It is a web site that gives “How-to” instructions for anything from “How to Swat a Fly without a Flyswatter” to “How to Roast a Turkey.” It is you basic How-To guide for just about anything. Including “How to Avoid Uncomfortable Conversations About Religion.” The process is fairly straightforward; here is simplified version—

• Don’t argue. It's difficult to overlook a statement that seems ignorant and ungrounded, and you'll likely have the urge to correct the person. Instead, just smile and say "Interesting..."
  
  
• Redirect the conversation. Ask about their children, health, or job or make a joke like, “Religion? No, I haven't seen that movie."
  
  
• Delay. Suggest a better time to have the conversation; this will allow you to control the environment, length of discussion, etc.
  
  
• Excuse yourself. Take bathroom break, greet someone who just arrived or even take out your cell phone.
  
  
• Bring in another conversationalist. When you can't avoid a person who wants to talk about religion, look for another person who has strong opinions about religion introduce the two, and leave them to split theological hairs together.
  
  
• Be straightforward. Tell them that this is the wrong time for this discussion.

We’ve all known people who press their theological point of view in polemic debate at any and every moment they have opportunity. You know, the guy or gal who can’t tell that nobody wants to hear them argue for the umpteenth time that day about why the Bible teaches that Bill Gates is the antichrist (the number of glitches in Windows 666). We have all gotten roped into conversations or debates that we could have done without.

Understanding that there is a time and place for everything, our real problem is not getting out of unwanted religious discussions… it is getting into them. We need to do a better job of initiating discussions about our God because we are His ambassadors. That is not always an easy—or safe—thing to do. But if God is the great truth at the center of our value system, then that should come out more than it does, should it not. The reason that we can have certainty and hope in a world so short on both is that we have faith in God who is in all and above all. Some trust in horses and chariots, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God!

When we are drawn into discussions of the war in Iraq, the shootings at Tech or myriad of other events and topics, maybe we can honestly and naturally point to the reason we believe that eventually everything will be all right.