con•ver•sa•tion (ˌkɒn vərˈseɪ ʃən) n.
1. informal spoken interchange of thoughts, information, etc.; oral communication between people.
2. an instance of this.
3. an interchange resembling spoken conversation.
4. the ability to talk socially with others: a person with no conversation.
5. association or social intercourse; intimate acquaintance.
6. Obs.
a. behavior or manner of living.
b. close familiarity, as from constant use or study
Every book I ever read or seminar I ever attended on marriage seemed to focus on one thing: having open, honest, and intimate conversation with another is the essential ingredient of every healthy relationship. This is vitally important in regards to your family, friends, and even the key to a healthy relational dynamic with the folks you lead. Yes, even business has evolved to a point where the essential nature of soft sciences is embraced.
“Organizational health will one day surpass all other disciplines in business as the greatest opportunity for improvement and competitive advantage.”
Ironically, this is still an area where most of us struggle as Christian leaders. A Savior, God as man, came to restore a fractured and distanced relationship with our God. Our entire faith is sourced to relationship. The good news is essentially that a once broken relationship is not only restored, but in more magnificent a fashion than we could have ever imagined.
Can you even fathom what relationship with a spouse would look like if every transgression, harmful word, and wounding incident was truly erased, forgiven, and completely forgotten?
Can you imagine how life might be different if conversational intimacy with the creator of the universe were the regular rhythm of your life?
That is the offer. The privilege afforded at the greatest of price. That we, as sheep, would hear His voice, know it, and follow. Rather than trying to work a complicated device using only a well written instruction manual, we get to hang out with the creator of the device. Rather than simply relying on truth conveyed, the experiential knowledge of others, or simple intuition, we get to consult with knowledge that surpasses understanding.
I am struck by how not knowing the answer to a simple question, found only in conversational intimacy with the Father, defines all other things.
Do you know me and love me? Am I important to you?
It is that deep knowing and confirmation of the Father’s heart for us that unleashes untold opportunity. If I am unsure of the answer to that question, I am looking to have it answered at every turn, by every person, and in every conversation. How am I able to truly offer to others as a leader if I need something of such great importance from everyone I lead? If I need my spouse, employees, friends, or even my children, to fundamentally and pervasively answer that question, how can I possibly be in the posture of offering that as my leadership requires?
May you have the courage and temerity of spirit to venture that question with your Father. May you stay in that question until all the distractions, misconceptions, disbelief, and whispers of our enemy fade… where you hear the one true voice of the One who knows you, loves you, and desperately wants you to know. Everything hangs in the balance.
- Father, do you know me?
- Father, do you love me?
- Father, what are your grandest intentions for my life?