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I was recently watching a video in which a very intelligent person was asked, "Do you believe in God?" They responded by saying something like, "That depends what you mean? What do you mean by believe? People have very different definitions of that. I think that you show what you believe in more by your actions than by simply agreeing that something is real. And it depends what you mean by God. What you mean by God might be very different than what I mean when I mean God."

While most of us rarely have the time, energy, or even mental wherewithal to get into massive discussions like this, the person makes a great point. If we want to talk about what we believe . . . and what others believe . . . properly we should probably start with questions. And following those questions, it might be good to ask more questions!

When my sons were little I remember them asking questions and I would try to answer them with big scientific, philosophical or theological answers only to find out they weren't really asking any of the questions I was answering. Too often we (at least I) do that when we're talking to adults, too. We don't take time to ask good questions and to listen well to other people.

As we work through our (re)union series and think about how we talk about Jesus, it is good to listen before we talk. The good news of Jesus can connect with people in so many ways. If we are willing to shut up and listen to the other for a while we may find that Jesus enters into the conversation much more naturally and easily than we could ever imagine!