"V" - Verify Spiritual Condition

After God Identifies the THEM's in your circles of relationship, and as you are Nurturing an authentic relationship with THEM, what's the next step in helping someone navigate the ground between where they are spiritually and where Christ wants them to be?

Some would say you just need to go in with guns blazing - tell them they are a sinner, that God loves them and wants to forgive that sin, and ask them if they are ready to pray a sinner's prayer. I'm not saying that might now work on occassion, but I have seen that approach fail more times than I want to recount.

I believe a better step is to try and determine where a person is spiritually. We call this step "Verify your THEMs spiritual condition." You can't help some one find their way home if you don't know where they are. They may be a cynic, or they may be agnostic. They may be a seeker or they may be in denial. The point is, you won't know until you bring the subject up. Natural questions like, "Do you ever think about God?" or "Have you ever thought about what happens when we die?" can open doors for spiritual conversations.

I would encourage a high level to sensitivity at this point. Don't press the issue. If the person is willing to talk, listen. Remember, you are on a fact finding mission at this stage. You just want to discover what the person knows and thinks about spiritual matters, God, Jesus, salvation.

I'll never forget one such conversation I had when the person declared, "I'm a born again Christian, how about you?" I had no idea. . .I guess if you never ask, you'll never know! This neighbor turned out to be an ally in our mission to impact our street for Christ.