talking it over

At our church, we're several months into a campaign called Talk It Over. Basically, it's just offering opportunities and prompts to get people to talk about the message they hear on the weekend and process it until it becomes a personal action step. It's basically trying to determine what God is saying to you personally through the message. Anyway, what I've come to recognize in the process of going through the feedback we get about the videos and discussion questions and study guides we've been sending out, is that the vast majority of people really never talk about anything that matters.

Weather? Check. Sports? Check. Hobbies? News? All of that is so surface really. Even things we get heated about like politics and the economy won't really matter a few decades from now. So instead of getting people to talk about the message, our first step is to get people to just dip their heads under the surface and get used to talking about something that really matters. To get up close and personal about what's going on in them spiritually.

One thing we've found that as really pushed that envelope for us is having the foster kids. They are like a breathing billboard for something that matters. Everywhere we go, even with complete strangers, we end up talking about stuff that matters. Today even, someone I would have normally just talked gardening with and left it at that ended up sharing about her own past with an abusive home.

So then, short of passing out foster kids at the door as people leave church, what have you found gets people to talk about important matters in your life? What gets you to open up and let your guard down? Or do you? What have been your experiences recently with Talking It Over?