Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Bibles Don't Belong Here

Last week I went out to a sports bar with my friend here in PA.  As always, we were hanging out, talking about Jesus, and I had my Bible with me.  We were there intentionally having a good time and looking for opportunities to share Jesus with others.  After all, this is what being a Christian is all about...

After several attempts to engage others, we prepared to depart but the Lord prompted me to talk to the table behind us before leaving.  Turns out two of the three persons knew my friend and had remembered me from High School.  I shared about being a pastor in NYC and asked them is they knew Jesus.  One girl affirmed that she was a Christian and member of a great church.  The guy at the table quickly pointed at my Bible and said that he didn't like that book, especially the second half as it was all about Jesus and not burning bushes and snakes.  Finally, the other girl at the table responded that she didn't know if there really was a God.  She never felt compelled to pray and had never really considered if God had ever done anything for her.

I challenged her to seriously consider that IF there is a God, what might the consequences of such be for her directly.  I did not feel led to enter into philosophical or scientific reasoning, but instead to make it personal.  What would it mean for her is God did exist and did create her on purpose?

It was awesome to see her mind consider the question and then to hear her Christian friend for the first time share the claims of Christianity with her.  But in the midst of that incredible exchange, the devil showed up through the guy at the table.  Immediately he began getting in my face and berating me for bringing a bible into a "bar."  "People don't want that in here," he said, "it belongs in a church.  Get out of here with your questions and opinions.  We don't want it here!"

Tragically, his response caused the entire table to cease talking about Jesus...except for the girl who claimed to not believe in God.  While the Christian girl tried to calm the man down, the other girl defended both me and the bible stating that she enjoyed the conversation and felt very grateful we talked with her.  As we left these three personalities and positions to the workings of the Holy Spirit.

Please pray for my three new friends, but also pray that God will use you to share Him with others.  Here we were in the midst of Central Bible, a very Evangelical community, and yet there are many who have not only heard about Jesus but who do not expect Jesus to be mentioned outside of a church building.  What has happened to Christianity?  How have we allowed Jesus to become so "personal" that we no longer talk about Him with others??