08/06/2026
Monday Meditation: “Heart to Heart, One to One”
If you are anything like me, you still watch with fascination as a rocket blasts off or an electric car hums past. We felt we were at the cutting edge when, some years ago now, we replaced our car with one that had sensors, cruise control and a satnav. The development of technology has accelerated amazingly over the last few decades, with new ways to relieve us of any kind of workload that involves effort. Robotic vacuum cleaners, online takeaway deliveries, cars that take decisions for us. What next?
However, we heard recently from two people who are helping the tiny Christian church in Turkey, and one thing they said particularly struck me. The church there in a predominantly Islamic country is hard-pressed, even though officially there is freedom of religion. And the way the gospel is spreading is through personal contact, through relationship, through trust and above all through the willingness of believers to talk to others about their faith.
Paul wrote to Roman Christians: “But how can they call on [God] to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” (Rom.10:14 NLT). A non-believer may read a Christian book or text, but how that is translated into a changed life needs a person to demonstrate and explain. In Jesus the Word became flesh, so in his disciples the Word of God is resident in imperfect human form to be seen and understood by others. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church: “You show that you are a letter from Christ … written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Cor.3:3).
Some of us may be naturally shy and talking about our faith with others is a challenge. Firstly, our effectiveness is not dependent on our individual personality or confidence, but rather on the in-dwelling power of the Holy Spirit who enables us to say the right things (1 Cor.2:3-4). Secondly, where possible we should seek to build genuine relationships with people, so we are known to be trustworthy and truly concerned for their welfare. We love, because Jesus first loved us (1 Jn.4:19).
Jesus’ parting words to his followers were that they would be his witnesses (Acts 1:8) - how ineffective is a witness who will not say what they have seen and heard, what they know personally. We can pray like the first disciples, “Now, Lord … enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” (Acts 4:29). Technology and the new media are great but there is no better way than the word of faith on our lips (Rom.10:8).
