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Evangelism – Turning the Conversation Using Caramel
Turning the Conversation Using Caramel
(In response to the request to post more on turning the conversation towards spiritual things)
The coffee maker (At 3 AM they are not baristas!) asked what I wanted. I asked her what she recommended. One offering was a Caramel Macchiato. I told her caramel is one of my favorite words.
Being friendly or bored she asked, “How do you pronounce it, ‘caramel’ or ‘carmel?'” To her, one was more fun than the other.
With a smile, I mention the fact (yes, it is a fact!) that there is an “a” in the middle. If I hadn’t been smiling in a friendly way and not with a condescending grin or smirk, she might have thought me a know-it-all jerk!
She responded, “There are two ways of spelling it”, and showed me the handwritten label with, “carmel”.
This is where I don’t correct her and the label maker. I have a different goal than proving spelling. Yes, there are two common pronunciations (one right way and wrong way!)
This is also where I get to turn the conversation like in John 4 (although never as deeply as Jesus).
“Did you know there is a mountain in the Bible called Carmel?” She did not but would have guessed Kilimanjaro (that spelling I had to look up!)
Then I stated, “I’m a preacher and when I…”
She interjected, “Well if you’re a preacher I hope you know your Bible”.
That’s not my point but I did not correct that either.
“I’m a preacher and when I teach on that section I like to mention, ‘It’s pronounced ‘Mt. Carmel, not Mt. Caramel’. The kids get a kicked out of that.” She laughed and said, ” I do too!”
From the middle of the small store a voice asked, “Did you say you are a preacher? I love Jesus”. I told her, “I do too, and Jesus loves us.”
I offered her a Bible bookmark and an invitation to visit our congregation. Jokingly I said, “You now have my permission to visit”.
The coffee maker said with a smile, “Permission? You aren’t discriminating, are you?” “Nah, no one needs my permission for anything.” Then I added to get a smile, “No one listens to me anyway”. The coffeemaker smiled and said, “But that’s your job!’ “Yes, it is” I responded, thinking, “Do a few Christians need reminding of that too?”
I gave the coffee maker a Bible bookmark too. The other lady wished me a blessed day as I left.
Turning the conversation takes practice and for me, it takes preparedness spiritually and mentally as to my response. For me that’s just another reason to love caramel.
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