Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:1-3, ESV)
In my work for Links Players, “What do you do?” hasn’t always been easy to answer. When I was a tennis pro it was easy. When I was a pastor it was easy. When I had a music company it was still pretty easy. Links Players? I want to answer, “How much time do you have?”
Being a conversation changer isn’t limited to our staff–every Links Player can be a conversation changer.One friend from the past used to say, “I’m a fully devoted follower of Jesus, cleverly disguised as a VP at Hewlett Packard.” That was excellent, but still included a simple job description. Then one of our Arizona Links Players board members told me he answers with, “I hang out with people.”
In fact, that is what he does, though his title is Development Director and he works for a wonderful nonprofit. That inspired me to now answer the question, “What do you do?” with “I’m a conversation changer.” And that changes the conversation, which is fun.
Here’s the great thing about that answer: You can use it, too. Yes, I’m a professional talker. What former pastor isn’t? All of us who work for Links Players have had much practice engaging in many conversations. But being a conversation changer isn’t limited to our staff–every Links Player can be a conversation changer.
Of course the greatest conversation changer was Jesus. Take a look (above) at the beginning of a famous conversation. Nicodemus started by paying Jesus a great compliment. No doubt he rehearsed his opening line several times as he made his way through the dark, wanting to get off to a good start with the worker of miracles.
Perhaps he expected a, “Thank you for recognizing my authority when most of your fellow Pharisees are blind,” or “Yes, God is indeed with me” kind of answer. The response he got was a conversation changer, and you may know the rest of the conversation. Do you also know that Nicodemus, though he was still a secret disciple, later boldly defended Jesus (John 7:50-51), and that when Jesus died Nicodemus showed his love for the Lord by helping prepare his body for burial (John 19:39)?
Join me in being a conversation changer. You can do that everywhere, and when someone asks what you do, you’ll have an answer they’ve never heard. Perhaps that will lead them to Jesus, someone they’ve never met, and he will change the conversation of their life forever.
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Lewis Greer
May 18, 2016
Copyright 2016 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.