Do you want to get what you want? This question seems simplistic and obvious. Who would want otherwise? Yet do you know people who always get what they want? The term for this is spoiled, and it can apply to adults just as much as to children. Sometimes not getting what you want can be better for you. It decentralizes your selfishness and provides opportunities to look beyond your own interests. Do you admire people who are unselfish more than those who are selfish? Do you want to be one? What price are you willing to pay?

Do you live in a classless society? There are valid arguments to say that there is no such thing, and those who are in the upper regions are less likely to be aware of the degree of stratification and the struggles of those on the lower rungs. Are you kind to the least of these? Do you think of them only as those in prison, or sick, or naked, hungry, and thirsty? You could expand your definition to include the marginally employed. If you are not one of these, do you seek out real connections with them? This goes beyond being courteous to them as they serve you.

Pilate asked ‘what is truth?’ even as truth stood before him. This is still a valid question. How do you view truth? In classic rationality truth is abstract and independent; it is objective and conceptual. Is there another approach? I said that you could know the truth, but I didn’t claim that I knew the truth, but that I was the truth. This strong statement opens the door for relational truth. Can you obtain relational truth outside of a relationship? Can you get it from books alone, even the Bible? The Bible speaks of people who had encounters with me.

You know that I taught in parables. These were stories to illustrate the nature of the Kingdom of God, and you are familiar with these from the Bible. I taught in timeless imagery familiar to my audiences. Do you think that if I walked among you today I would use the same stories? Perhaps I would add new ones that spoke directly to modern experience. The parables only work if they bridge the gap between the familiar and the unfamiliar. You have to engage your audience with something they know to teach them something they don’t know. How do you present the gospel message?