Other than schedule some new content my work today was mostly behind the scenes - developing some new stories for my half day workshop. In the past I've jumped right into the content, expecting my audience to be dazzled by my brilliance - which rarely happened. I can remember a few years ago I taught a four week course on Lectio Divina, and at the end I asked the class who felt ready to go out and do this type of prayer on their own. Not a single hand went up. I felt deflated like a latex balloon when you let go of it before the knot is tied. Pfffffffffffft. I also got curious. Why was it after all that effort that I didn't achieve my desired goal - equipping the participants to pray Lectio Divina on their own.
As I read through Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson, he shared how he had a similar problem, and that was because he was leading with the content. It wasn't until one day he said to his participants, "Look do you know what I went through to learn this? Let me tell you ..." It was after he shared his story that they learned his content. I re-read that paragraph a few times and said, "That's it! That's me! I do the same thing and have similar results. Maybe I need to lead with more stories."
So this evening I spent some time reviewing my Facebook surveys on why Episcopalians don't share their faith. I documented the objections in my notebook, and thought about times when I had similar objections and how I came to change my mind. One item that kept coming up was that people don't want to be proselytizing. This is usually because it's been done to them before and left a bad taste in their mouth. I chewed on that thought while I walked my dog in the cold December air.
Somewhere around the block, it hit me that proselytizing is the exact opposite of what I want to do. Proselytizing is the equivalent of dumping all your content onto a person and insisting that they accept it - or else. (Cue ominous music.) What I'll be teaching is to share the stories. Connect emotionally with your audience and share just once piece of how faith in God has affected you. There is no need to be pushy because it's just your story. It's kind of like what Murray Bowen taught about being self-differentiated. This is me, and you're free to respond or not to it as you decide,
A story is not proselytizing because there is no hard sales pitch. Instead its connecting with other people on an emotional level, and sharing something positive that has happened to you. It's an offer, not a demand. It's one piece of a cosmic, eternal puzzle, and doesn't claim to have the whole picture. But what it does do is says, "Here's a little piece of my life. I find it beautiful, and I want to share that with you."
If you'd like to have me in for a free half day workshop, DM me on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/conormat/ Also, if you like and follow my Facebook Page I'll get closer to my 25 follower goal and be able to get a custom URL. Thanks and #tellyourstory.
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