BE ADVISED!!!!! - - I am starting this next blog entry with masked profane language to illustrate the shocking beginning of our night.
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"Shut the f*** up!," he yelled. "Aw shut the h***, up!"
Marcus continued to hold his composure. His expression did not waiver for a moment. Although the train was noisy, and some people were moaning and disgruntled by his preaching, he continued. "I know the train is noisy, but please hear me! The Bible tells us that without the salvation that is found in Christ, that we are doomed." (Paraphrased...)
"I said, 'SHUT UP'." Angrily, the man rose to his feet, apparently trying to intimidate and to make Marcus quiet down.
"Excuse me, man, " Marcus said, and continued to shout as the train came to a halt. "Please think about and look into these things."
The man was just about to say something, when a woman yelled from the back of the train, "Leave him alone, he can say whatever the f*** he wants." Then to Marcus, "You just go on saying whatever you want." Marcus thanked her politely, and stepped off the train. As he stepped off, a woman leaned over to him, "Hey, you did nothing wrong, and I am glad you said what you said." This didn't phase Marcus either. He instantly engaged this woman with a tract and asked her if she had time to talk. She was in a hurry, but left with the tract. As he was heading up the escalator another woman reassured him. Again, Marcus refused to simply be consoled but directly engaged her. He began to ask her questions, and she tried to respond by telling him that she was on her way to church with communion supplies in her bag. He still gave her a tract and encouraged her.
Only moments before, I had half-jokingly dared Marcus on the train to stand up and preach right there. I told him I would give him a million dollars (the million dollar tracts we had). He assured me that he had done it before, but that the Red Line was a little too noisy and that people wouldn't be able to hear. I nodded in agreement. But within moments, he had begun shouting to the people. The guy is a rock... and absolutely solid rock. I have so much to learn from him.
Relational Evangelism
The Women
There are so many stories that I could tell of what happened tonight. The front lines of ministry is where I want to remain.. ALWAYS. But what really stood out in my mind was our interactions with two encounters.
The first was with two young women sitting in the plaza area near "The Bean," which is a large metallic... bean-shaped sculpture in Millennium Park in the city. They seemed to just be waiting there, so we (Jessica and I) approached them with a tract and asked if we could talk. Instantly, the first young woman said that she knew what we were doing and that she was Christian. As I probed a little further, I found out that she was a Christian and her friend was Jewish. I wanted to somehow engage her (the Jewish woman) with the gospel, and I had the perfect opportunity. You see, hours earlier as I was showering, praying and mulling over Romans in my head, I was essentially practicing using Paul as a starting point for a presentation of the gospel. I wasn't sure how I would, but something that was just standing out in my mind was the fact that he was a Jew.
So, when I found out her friend was Jewish, I essentially walked through Paul's conversion experience: how he was a Pharisee of Pharisees, training under Gamiliel, and a persecutor of the Church before his conversion. I relayed it in a way to show that Paul saw Christianity as the fulfillment of Judaism, and that after that, he went away and learned for 13 years, and then met John and Peter in Jerusalem, told them he was going to preach the gospel, and went out doing just that... and the rest is history. The Christian girl seemed very receptive, but also eager to have us move on, so I thanked her, and encouraged her to talk to her friend, who didn't seem to want to look me in the eye the entire time we were talking.
Greg
The second experience has forever changed my perspective on relational evangelism. I have been a proponent of building relationships with people to be able to bridge the gap needed to show them Christ. However, the truth of the matter is that the thrust of the teachings of Christ and the New Testament treatment of the Gospel is not primarily about relationships. It is about truth. The Gospel is between the Lord and the person. He is either calling them to himself or He isn't. Our job is to tell the truth in love so that His Word can have its affect.
Greg is the perfect example. We found him snapping shots of "The Bean" and approached him with a tract. He was willing to engage us in conversation so I began by asking him where he thought he would go when he died. He said that that he was hoping to disappear into oblivion. (I only learned later in the evening that he had studied philosophy under a Buddhist). I asked him to humor me for a moment and to assume that his only options were heaven and hell. He was reluctant, but was willing to go along. So, I continued telling him about God's law and how we are all transgressors of it, and how we are all in need of a Savior. He was tracking with me just fine.
When I got to the part about God requiring payment and justice for the sins committed, he wasn't willing to accept the gift of Christ's payment on his behalf. It was just like when I spoke to Mike last week. I told him that Christ had done that already and that regardless of whether or not he wants it, it is there. It is on the table, and the payment is already paid in full.
From this, he launched into a frustrated bit about the nature of good and evil and how exhausting it was to see humanity go through the highs of the good and the lows of the evil in this world. He longed for it to be over and did not want to think about another life... It was just too exhausting. It was at this moment that I was very thankful for the emphasis that one of my professors, Dr. Wechsler, had placed on the nature of the rest that God intended for man. I began to explain to Greg that the intention that God had for man all along was for him to enter into His rest. I showed him that throughout all the dispensations (and no I didn't use that word, but i figured Justin would get a kick out of it when he reads this.) of his grace, God bore with mankind's incessant turning away from Him, and kept preserving a remnant that would eventually be taken into His rest. In fact, Jesus himself said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."
He was hooked. He wanted to know more. He gave me his email address and asked me to send him more information about this rest concept. I was just about to say goodbye, when my wife began asking him questions about why he was in Chicago and what he was doing, etc. It ended in her offering for us to take him around to various landmarks around the city. He was ecstatic. We talked for hours, taking him up Michigan Ave, up to the Hancock Signature Lounge to see the city, and eventually enjoying nachos, cheesecake, and coffee at the Cheesecake Factory. He told us sooo many stories. It was quite an evening.
So I am beginning to think that perhaps we have it wrong. Perhaps the ideal is not to build relationships so that we can share the gospel, but to share the gospel, so that we can build relationships. I still need to flesh this out some more, but both weeks so far, there has been at least one person that I have run into that has given me his information and wanted to pursue a relationship further. Last week it was Luiz, who invited me out to see him in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, whenever I get the chance. Greg offered to connect us with other world travelers whenever we decide to go anywhere. He apparently has a lot of connections. We will try to get together the next time he is in Chicago.
So, if you are reading this, please pray for Luiz and Greg, and the host of other souls who heard the gospel this evening. Many seeds were planted.
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