The Everyday Club

5/7/10 Andy, 28
I stopped at a Burger King on my way home after work where a businessman (Andy) was sitting in a booth talking on an ear-bud style cell phone. When his conversation was over I walked over and asked if he had a few minutes for some questions. He took off his ear buds. "I've got a few more calls to make, but sure - what's up?". An hour later, we were still talking. I asked about his spiritual beliefs, and Andy said "Oh, I believe in God, but I've always had one question, and no one has ever been able to answer it. Why did God abandon Jesus when he hung there on the cross?" Andy was wondering how God could allow suffering and such an obviously imperfect world. Had He turned his back on his own creation? He was filled with questions like this, and very glad to have someone to talk to about them. He claimed his questions weren't an excuse for not following God, but when it came to his view of his own sinfulness Andy came about as close to claiming perfection as anyone I've met. He just couldn't openly admit that he breaks the Ten Commandments like everyone else. He did say that he had developed an extreme hatred for Islam as a result of his overseas business experiences. He also claimed to have had a supernatural vision of the virgin Mary as a child, and three near-death experiences that have left him believing in God but disbelieving the idea that God would punish unrepentant sinners in hell. I challenged Andy to consider that his trust is more in the impressions left on him by these experiences than in God's revelation of Himself in the Bible. God is definitely working in this young man, but had I pressed for a "decision" (do we choose God or does God choose us?) I believe it would be the equivalent of picking unripened fruit or opening a cocoon before the butterfly within has fully developed. All in God's perfect timing....