The Everyday Club

4/9/10 Mike, 50 something
I want to be able to reach out to people with the Gospel wherever they are at and I've begun to learn to do so, but there are so many more places and circumstances for me to learn how to enter into. One that I am totally unfamiliar with is a bar or tavern, but last night I went to the lounge at the hotel I am at for a work-related conference and struck up a conversation with Mike, who was having a drink and watching hockey on the big screen TV. After some small talk I said "Hey I've got an interesting question for you. What do you think happens after we die? Do you think there is a heaven and a hell?" Mike clearly relished the idea of talking theology with someone, and seemed to be fairly knowledgeable theologically. He is a non-attending Catholic, but seemed to view our conversation as a chance to teach me, answering my questions with profound questions of his own. In so doing he was clearly evading any personal responsibility for his own answers. In his occupation, he is a boss or manager with the responsibility for the hiring and firing of hundreds of people, which helped me to understand how I could have such a long, challenging conversation without really knowing where he was coming from or what he truly believes in. Sometimes as we talked he played the devil's advocate to make a point, but I wasn't always sure when. He claims to believe the Bible, but I don't believe he is living it out. If there was any benefit from our conversation, I believe it might just be the example I try to set by being a doer of the word, and not just a hearer only.