with Embedded Truth in the Software of the Heart
Jon Sween
I have been hanging out with Joe (not real name) for the last three years. Joe works for the government in downtown Seattle. A few months ago, we were walking back from lunch and Joe began to share his frustrations with how life works for some people. He complained about the rich and the prideful people who don't treat others well. As I listened to Joe I realized that he was speaking what David said in Psalm 73. I said to Joe, "What you just said is what David said in Psalm 73." It struck me that God has embedded the great truths of Scripture in the software of the heart, and that my role was to listen, ask questions and then relate Joe’s intuitive truth statements to the grand narrative of God in the Bible.
Often times in evangelism I find myself frustrated because I can"t find a natural connection to converse the Bible with my friends on a journey to Jesus. What I am learning to do is pay attention to the emergence of the kingdom of God in the lives of my friends who I want to see become followers of Jesus. Another way to look at this is the phrase, "Reversing the Hermeneutical Flow." Oh my what on earth does that mean? Simply put it's the process of starting with life and then connecting to truth rather than trying to figure out how to sneak in Scripture references in a conversation and thus communicating a hidden agenda to people. How do we go about doing this?
This diagram shows how people experience life on the right side of the diagram.
Beginning on the right side with the word design, and then moving to the left you can see the progression of relating a life experience to the internal software in the heart (soul) that is then connected to the Biblical truth and the far left. For example, Joe has often said and done things that indicate a gift of helping. I believe that God has designed him with the gift of helps even though he is not a follower of Jesus yet. I have told him that when he becomes a Christian I could see him helping other people in many ways. God has designed him according to Psalm 139 with a particular bent to do kingdom work even though he isn't in the kingdom yet. So what I am really doing is trying to help Joe listen to the Bible that is already written on the software of his heart. The next step hopefully, is that Joe will make a commitment to become a follower of Jesus. Then again, it may take more megabytes of Biblical truth before Joe allows his operating system (worldview) to become fully operational.
The essence of this process is the life embedded truth of Ecclesiastes 3.11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." The process we've just looked at is an attempt to tease to the surface the internal truth that God has written on the software of the heart. Our role is to listen, ask questions and make connections for the people we want to see follow Jesus.
Here are some topics to discuss with your friends:
- Seize the rest of your life for what?
- What is the good life?
- Allow beauty to emerge
- Leaving a legacy
- Finding a 3rd place
- Moving on without regrets
Are there any resources which can help facilitate this process? I have written two discussion guides that use movies, music, art etc to get at life experiences as a context for Gospel conversations. Connections 1 is designed for people in their 20’s and 30’s and Connections 2 is for people over 50.