A05 The Relational Map
List of the Online Lessons: A B C D E F G H
A05 The Relational Map
(—– LENI, TADY NEDĚLEJ TITULKY, ZATÍM NECHÁME JEN TEXT! —–)
For starting your own Discovery Bible sessions I recommend very much you to create a relational map. (The Greek word “oikos” means “home”, “household” or “people in the house”).
We all naturally move through a few different spheres, where people are present:
a) The closest sphere of our relationships is our own family and close or distant RELATIVES.
b) Usually we live somewhere. We have NEIGHBORS, whom we meet in a house or on the street.
c) If you have a JOB, I assume you have colleagues, a boss, maybe subordinates, but also clients from outside and a lot of different people around. If you’re a student, your classmates and teachers are there waiting for you.
d) A lot of people are involved in a HOBBY SPHERE: sports, gym, language school, clubs, library… Some participate in interest or job courses.
e) Throughout life we make FRIENDS. With some we are connected by our common history; elementary school, some of them we’ve met as adults, maybe in former jobs or just a little while ago. If you have children, they usually have their friends as well. Occasionally, we communicate with friends of our kids and with their parents.
f) Everyone needs to go shopping, so we have our favorite SHOPS and in some shops even favorite sales people. We greet some of them even when meeting them outside the shop.
In the same category there’s a restaurant, where we sometimes go for a menu. Occasionally I ask the waitress, Mrs. Boženka, how she is doing. From that I know she was dealing with back problems.
The waiter Jirka dealt with a girl friend, with whom he has a three-year old boy. So I encouraged him a bit to fulfill her needs in the man – woman relationship. Later he told me they decided to get married! So I rejoiced with him! Once Jirka came to our table and said: “If I look weird today, it is because I was on my friend’s funeral, yesterday…” After the meal, I went to him, hugged him gently, and with a look to the ceiling I said: “Jesus, please encourage Jirka here to deal with the loss of his friend soon.” “Thanks, thanks a lot…” and he ran to the kitchen.
g) We have at least familiar acquaintances in different INSTITUTIONS. The lady in the bank remembers me by name for some reason, even though she hardly ever sees me. The post office and other authorities belong in this category too. Maybe you regularly visit your doctor. Even though we show up there only once or twice a year, I can assure you that the question “how are you today” will be a nice surprise for some of the people.
I’ll say it this way: For a normal, socially healthy person, it’s not a problem to write down fifty people in these circles. If you think about them during a normal walk through different spheres of life, you’ll undoubtedly get a list of more than a hundred people in a week. Pray for them and ask Jesus, to whom you should pay more attention. Choose maybe five of them, or just three. Pray for those three every day. Several times. Strive for natural contact with them. Greet them, ask them how they are. Listen to them if possible, and transmit signals of favor to them. Time for a spiritual talk, and an invitation for your Discovery won’t wait too long.
Lord Jesus, I’m probably the only one in my circles, who can bring You there! Please open the hearts of these people. Open also my heart, so I can communicate with them naturally and with a real interest, and so that I would invite some of them to my Discovery.