Ambassador for Christ (Acts 23:7) by Josh Brahm

16 May Ambassador for Christ (Acts 23:7) by Josh Brahm

Welcome God now with this LIFE Group Devotion (FB), provided by LIFE Runners (FB). Leaders. Guest Authors.
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“When he said this, a dissension began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ~ Acts 23:7 (full readings)
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Josh’s Reflections: Notice what Paul does in this passage. He wisely made a claim about something he knew the Sadducees and Pharisees disagreed on. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection, which is why they were so sad, you see. *rimshot*  Pro-life people can learn from Paul’s strategy here. We should talk about things within the abortion debate that pro-choice people aren’t unified on. We can start great dialogues about abortion by asking questions like, “what do you think about late-term abortion?” “What do you think about sex-selection abortions, where people abort girls solely because they are girls?” “Should abortion be used as a form of birth control?” These are questions where you can find common ground with most pro-choice people at the grassroots level, while Planned Parenthood and NARAL leaders will typically have a more extreme opinion. (For a list of 25 of these types of questions and how to use them, check out my colleague Steve Wagner’s free book, “Common Ground Without Compromise,” at CommonGroundBook.com.)  It’s important that you ask these questions with the right attitude. Don’t be a jerk about it. Be a gracious ambassador for Christ (2 Cor 5:20).  See Stand to Reason’s material on the essential qualities of a good ambassador for Christ (STR.org).  It’s essential that you are a good ambassador for Christ if you’re going to have a positive impact on the person you’re talking to. You can be a gracious person and get stumped by a tough pro-choice argument, and you can simply say, “wow, I hadn’t thought of that before. Can I think about it for a few days and get back to you?” No problem. But you could be the smartest pro-life apologist in the country and act like a jerk, and then win the argument, but lose the person. Don’t be that guy. If you have not love, you’re just a resounding gong.
* Josh Brahm is the Director of Education at Right to Life of Central CA and a speaker, blogger and podcast host.  He is happily married with three kids and leads worship for his church in Clovis, CA.  Full bio: http://joshbrahm.wordpress.com/about.
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Faith Challenge: Use one of the questions from Steve Wagner’s book (CommonGroundBook.com) or something you learn from my podcast (ProLifePodcast.net) to start a conversation with a pro-choice person this week.
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Counter-Culture News: LifeSiteNews, LifeNews, American Family, Vatican, Project Rachel.
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Our Prayers: Prayer to end abortion. LIFE Runners Creed. Add Prayers. Pray with meals, bedtime, wake up, etc. Consider mid-week Family Rosary (17 min). Let’s pray now.
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Feast Day: St. Margaret of Cortona
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Faith Quote: “A dialogue is more than two monologues.” ~ Max M. Kampelman
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Through Christ our Lord,
Josh