When it is OK to talk to strangers
Often when we are first getting involved with a new activity (like sharing our faith) , we just have to take baby steps to get to a higher level of competency. We don’t automatically become an expert at anything. We have to work at it.
A classic example would be in the movie Karate Kid. The coach, Mr. Miyagi has Daniel Larusso do very simple, seemingly menial tasks – such as wax-on, wax-off. He gets very frustrated and fails to see the relevancy (he wants to FIGHT!) but they become the underpinning for his success.
So, if we feel inadequate sharing our faith with someone, maybe we need to start with baby steps. Why not just start off practicing talking to people, to strangers in particular. Just practice being a conversationalist until it doesn’t seem weird to just talk.
I have a friend that is the master at this. He has never met a stranger. He is someone I want to learn from. He has little techniques that he uses to get a conversation going. He practices.
In our church, we sometimes go to the park to practice talking to people. We are not trying to change the world overnight as it were, but just to practice. Sometimes we make a new friend in the local community, which is good thing in of itself.
Click here to go to our forums talk about when it is ok to talk to strangers.