One of the first ways to bring Jesus into your conversation is to keep up with the news. CNN has a religion blog on their Website and NPR often has positive discussions of Christian issues. Their reporting can be a good starting point as in: "CNN just reported on a huge national study that reveals that you are more likely to go to church the more educated you are. I was a little surprised by that. Are you very religious?"
I'll have to talk about this report later, but it shows that less educated Americans are leaving the church in the largest numbers. Each year of higher education makes it more likely that you will become a faithful church member. I like this because the truth violates the stereotype. It's one of those facts that people go, "Hmm..." It has great potential to lead to a longer conversation.
You should be always looking for these kinds of conversation starters, but be careful where you search. You are looking for positive, surprising information and insights. Fox News, Focus on the Family, and Christian radio stations are not good sources. Not because they are necessarily unreliable, but because that media is aimed mostly at people who already agree with the attitudes and information being expressed. It's not persuasive to the unconvinced.
The primary reason that C.S. Lewis has remained interesting and persuasive for so long is that all of his writing was for a general audience. He wrote for newspapers and radio, not for Christian bookstores. There are similar writers today such as Timothy Keller, N.T. Wright, and Rob Bell.
I also recommend that you talk more about you spirituality. Spiritual exploration, development, and growth remain popular in our culture. Be willing to start there. Too many Christians make every discussion into an all or nothing treatise on theology. It's often too much too soon and doesn't address the questions people really have. If you've just come back from a retreat, talk to your friends about your spiritual growth weekend. Spiritual insights you have received from a good book, say those of Henri Nouwen or Eugene Peterson are appropriate to bring up in conversation.
What makes most Christians nervous about bringing Jesus into their conversation is the belief that we have to go for a full-court press every time he's mentioned. Pepper your conversation with your spiritual life and see where it goes. Sometimes people will want to go deeper. Sometimes you'll just move on to the topic of discussion. What you will have demonstrated is that you are comfortable talking about God. This means that your friends will know that you are the one they can go to if they have questions or they need help.
PreChristians talk about God a whole lot more than we think. Take a look at the current crop of TV shows and movies. When science fiction and supernatural shows are popular (and they are right now), it means that people are interested in the big questions of life. Unfortunately, it's Christians that make spirituality a taboo topic by pushing too hard, too often or by avoiding the topic altogether out of fear. Just remember that every discussion doesn't have to be persuasive. Bring Jesus into the conversation and don't be too pushy, and people will start asking you questions.
I'm not done with this topic. More next time.
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