Most of Us Don’t Like to Talk About God

I wish the title of this devotion were wrong. But in 2018, Barna Group found in a survey that most Americans don’t like to talk about God. Only seven percent of Americans say they talk about spiritual matters regularly. The survey discovered that 13% of regular churchgoers say they have a spiritual conversation once a week, but shouldn’t that percentage be higher?

Talking about God and having spiritual conversations has been on the decline for a long time. Talking about God can be dangerous for many reasons. We live in a polarized political climate, and a spiritual conversation could cause a rift in a relationship. A spiritual conversation might make us realize a change that we need to make in our own life, and no one likes to make a change. In the Book of Deuteronomy, talking about God can and should be a normal part of everyday life.

Jesus quoted Deuteronomy more often than any other Old Testament book except the Psalms. When tempted in the wilderness, He rebuffed Satan three times with teachings from Deuteronomy. When a teacher of the law asked Jesus which commandment was the greatest (Matthew 22:34-40), Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:5. If Israel obeyed God’s law by loving “the Lord their God and serving Him with all their heart and with all their soul,” God’s blessing would follow.

God’s people were to memorize His words and to display them in places where they’d often be seen. The law said to talk about God’s instructions for life with your children, “When you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (11:19) God wants us to turn our small talk into something deeper. God will bless our communities as we talk about His words and practice them.

Prayer – Lord, there is so much to talk about in your world. Teach me how to share your Words with others and live according to your will. Teach me to share your Words so the world will know how to live. Amen.

Deuteronomy 11:18 – “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”

By the Rev. Tommy Herndon
Images: Briana Tozour, Mateus Campos Filipe & Miriam G., courtesy of Unsplash