Originally Posted by
Nell
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Igzy: I'm not sure what you mean by this statement.
I'll make a comparison to this forum and the BARM. The BARM is an apologetics forum and I don't think they ever understood our desire to help people, and that this is the most sincere form of apologetics (my opinion). They seemed to want intellectual doctrinal debate without the people factor to "muddy" the water. I don't know this to be true, but it seems to me to be true, and that's the reason I post here instead. To "win" a debate in that arena is simply a "hello win column." To really win would be for someone who's hurting to be able to find the Lord again.
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Originally Posted by
Igzy
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One thing you might need to understand is that some people cannot be ulitmately "helped" until their minds are convinced. Men tend to be that way. I know I am. Much of the problem with ex-LC men is that they hold conflicting concepts in one mind, causing inner conflict, the simplest being the "I'm supposed to be the the LC/I can't be in the LC" dichotomy. These people need emotional support, but they are not going to be set right until their minds are set right. Emotions are persuaded by sentiment; the mind is persuaded by facts. A solid logical argument, inspired of course by the Holy Spirit, goes a long way in these cases.
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My turn…
Maybe there is a fine balance when getting involved in intellectual doctrinal debate. Discussing viable answers/facts, while avoiding the old familiar sense of sitting in yet another long, boring meeting listening to people that like to hear themselves talk – out-of-touch and not noticing they lost everyone an hour ago.
Simply watching/listening for clues from the audience to see when it is time to quit “talking”.
To draw an analogy – a best practice in leading JAD (Joint Application Development) meetings is to keep everyone engaged. I must watch for subtle clues from attendees that they are losing focus and get the meeting quickly refocused and engaged. I couldn’t help but think about this example since I had to do a lot of it last week at work.