Posted by
Doctor Bart on Sunday, June 22, 2008 10:40:20 AM
I love to talk to people. In fact conversation is the best part of my job. The actual practice of medicine, the diagnosis and treatment of diseases gets more boring as time goes on. How many sore throats does one need to see before the thrill is gone?
Although sore throats get boring, the person with the sore throat changes all the time. They have jobs, families, experiences and perspectives uniquely their own.
As much as I enjoy conversation, I am realizing that it is dying. No one talks anymore.
I was thinking about this yesterday as I was driving out of my neighborhood on my way to the office. As I drove down the street I looked at my neighbor’s homes and thought about the people who lived in them. There was Dick’s house, Patty and April’s house, Mike and Jenna’s house, Ron and Jeannie’s, Artie’s, Dan and Linda’s, Bev’s, and others. I know so many of their names, but I don’t ever really talk to them. On the rare occasions when we do talk it is never about anything of substance.
It has become culturally unacceptable to discuss anything of depth. Politics and religion are taboo.
In such a world, how are we to proclaim the gospel? How can we share the good news if we never talk to anyone about anything? This i snot a question to be viewed lightly. We are commanded by the Savior to preach the gospel to the world, and the world includes the people in our neighborhoods.
It is hard, but if we are to fulfill the Great Commission, we need to talk.