Alkie Insight

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.” 

As a Christian, I'm responsible to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those who have not heard.  But how can I reach someone at that level?  Is it possible to speak genuinely with a stranger about their personal life and what they believe?  Can I interest someone I don’t know to consider the Bible for solutions to their deepest life questions?  I had struggled with these questions for years.  The answers eventually came in an unexpected way.

“Hello, my name is John and I’m an alcoholic,” the speaker said.  “The first time I got drunk I was thirteen years old.” 

Over the next sixty minutes, sitting with twenty other people in a fire hall meeting room, I heard my own story being told as the speaker unwound his tale.  Although the characters were different and the story set in another time and place, it was my story nonetheless.

John continued, “For the first few years I mostly drank my father’s booze, anything we had in the house.” 

In an addiction recovery meeting, the speaker tells the story of a struggle with addiction,  which builds a bridge of common experience with the audience.  As John spoke I was drawn to listen closely, frequently nodding my head, affirming the narrative’s authenticity.

“I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin,” he said.  “My insides didn’t match what I saw on the outsides of others.  Alcohol became my equalizer.”

My close identification with the story created a connection and a sense of intimacy.

“Whether at work, at home or with friends, I needed a few drinks just to function.  It got so that I was either drinking, thinking about my next drink or drunk.”

About halfway through his talk, John said, “I realized I could not go on.  My life had become unmanageable and  I was desperate.  Somehow, something had to change.” 

I was hooked.  John was describing the desperation that had brought me to the meeting that night.  Like a dry sponge, I soaked up every drop as John shared his recovery experience.  I stayed after the talk was over, met some people and came back again the following week.  I continued to listen and, over time through their stories, I began to make changes in my life.  Why?  Because as I got to know the stories of the people in those meetings and I wanted what they had – sobriety.

My own story is that I came to faith in Jesus Christ as a young man and later developed a serious drinking problem that eventually led to my involvement in addiction recovery.  I am grateful for the recovery experience and have been sober for seven years.  Surprisingly, it was through addiction recovery that I discovered how to better communicate on a spiritual level.  My alcoholic friends taught me to build bridges of mutual identification with people by sharing my own shortcomings, just as John had done for me at that first meeting.  Two principles emerged that I have applied to sharing my faith. 

First, my primary job is to listen. 

‘If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a clanging cymbal.’ 

For many years I had been a clanging cymbal.  In conversation, I could be classified as an over-active listener, responding point-by-point to what the other person was saying.  Eager to share my thoughts, I often did so in the middle of the other’s sentences, even to the extent of running commentary.  My intent may have been good, but the trouble was, when my mouth was open, my ears were closed.  Recovery meetings taught me to listen quietly, absorbing information without comment.  As I listened more closely I realized that many conversations didn’t require me to say much of anything.  Sometimes just listening was enough.

The second principal is to lead with my weakness.  Scripture sets forth numerous paradoxes – the first will be last, and the last first; the poor will be rich; the foolish will shame the wise – and biblical paradox inserts itself here also.  When talking to a struggling person, it is in my own weakness that I can be strong, for in my own struggles God has met me and applied his strength.  

In answering the call to “Go ye therefore…” I don’t need to stand on the street corners of life, clanging away at passersby, I need only share my experience with people.  Our lives are texts, the experiences of life form for each of us our own unique narratives.  By telling my story  – how it was, what happened and how my life is different today – I can be a witness to the redemptive power of Christ.  It doesn’t require a graduate degree in Biblical studies to share the good news, only an open ear and a willingness to share weakness. 

When someone tells me about their struggles, their fears or failings, I listen for shared experiences.  Perhaps a few pages from my story relate to their situation.  They’re probably not looking for someone to tell them what to do, or tell them if they’re right or wrong.  To communicate at the heart level with struggling people, it’s far better to show them through glimpses of my story what God’s mercy and power has done for me.