By: Chef Niku
You have probably heard of the often quoted Bible verse that says “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one”. This is from the chapter from the book of Deuteronomy where it tells the Israelite people to love God first (chapter 6:4 to be exact). But there is more to the verse where it tells the Israelite people to teach their children the words and commands of God and also to their neighbors or wherever they go. Verse 7 says to talk about God’s Word in the house and also when walking around the community.
What we learn here is to tell our family and everyone that we meet in the workplace or out in public about who God is and what He has done. This sort of thing has become so popular that it is called “shema” statements or listen statements (shema means “listen” in Hebrew). It is actually very simple to do with prayer to God and being open to the Holy Spirit’s leading. The basic idea is to ask certain questions or statements to figure out where a person is spiritually (are they open to the things of God or spiritual things?) When you do that, you are practicing a form of the shema statements.
This way of discerning if someone is spiritually open to talking about God or learning more is especially useful when talking with Japanese people wherever you maybe. Those who are open to talking more are referred to as “people of peace” or a POP. It is with these people that you want to continue the conversation with them at a later time and be ready to have deep spiritual conversations or even study the Bible together.
Let me give you a personal example to see how this works. Myself and a few others usually talk with three Japanese people over in Japan online for English practice and maybe Japanese practice. One of the Japanese persons just had a baby and we were talking about her baby’s omiyamairi お宮参り (Japanese baby dedication ceremony). The omiyamiairi happens after the baby is between one month old to 100 days. The parents take their child to the Shinto shrine and ask the Shinto priest to pray for blessings and good health.
After explaining to me what that was, she asked a very important question that I was not expecting to hear. She asked “Is it like shinrei (baptism)?”. I saw that she was spiritually open to talking about deep things like these so I asked her if she knew the meaning of baptism in Christianity. It was from there that I prayed to the Holy Spirit for words to say. I then explained to her what baptism symbolizes in Christianity and explained the Gospel through baptism. I could see that she was spiritually open to talking about baptism and wanting to learn more and so I shared more about who God is and what being rescued from sin really means.
The idea of shema statements is very simple but it requires that we are filled with the Word and love of the Lord to be effective and hear from Him. You cannot do it in your own strength and so it is important to be reading the Scriptures and asking the Lord to fill you with His love before using shema statements with others. When you are filled with His love and presence, you will be able to hear from Him better when you are meeting people on what to say or when to speak up about something.
Sometimes you will not sense any leading from the Spirit and that is okay. Not every conversation will be spiritual and you may just have a regular conversation and that is alright. It is important to remember that it is the Lord’s work and maybe that day you may not have any special discussions. If you do feel a nudge from the Spirit to speak up, go in faith and go for it but discern that such a thought or prompting is from Him. We must remember that there is a spiritual war out there and Satan would like to disrupt such conversations or confuse you.
Shema statements:
- can begin with the person themselves asking a question about God
- you ask certain questions to see if he or she wants to talk further about the things of God
- if a person mentions something about meditating in the morning or how they find peace, you could share how you meditate in God’s Word or find peace in the presence of God
- you could ask a person a non-spiritual question and direct it to a more spiritual topic
- the conversation should flow very naturally and not be forced
- it might be helpful to find a connection point in their worldview and bridge it to the Gospel
- rely on the Holy Spirit to lead you and guide you in conversations
- be filled with God’s love and be in His presence is helpful before talking with others
- done out of love for the person you are talking with and not be afraid to talk to them
- be discerning of what you are hearing and make sure it follows the Scriptures before speaking to the other person