The Everyday Club

9/25/10     Jesus and Nikki,    both 16
I was on the sidewalk at a busy intersection waiting for the stoplight to turn green when a young man (Jesus) suddenly ran across past me, misjudging how close the oncoming traffic was and leaving his girlfriend (Nikki) behind. In his haste he somehow dropped his wallet, so when the light did change I picked it up on the way across. When I gave it to him on the other side I couldn't help but ask "Where would you be if you had gotten hit by that car?" Nikki joined in - "Yeah, what were you thinking?" He had a look of bravado on his face, but I continued on "No really, what do you think comes next after this life?" They are young and haven't given it much thought, though in general Nikki said she believes in God and Jesus believes in a higher power of some sort. He agreed that he will be judged some day, and since energy can't "judge" us it is possible that God exists, so I continued with that assumption. I gave them the "good person" questions based on individual commandments to help them personalize and take responsibility for their own sins, and they seemed convicted by this. Jesus in particular agreed that if this is all true then he would deserve the punishment of hell, so this was a good time to addressed his disbelief in God: "No wonder so many people don't want to believe in God, so they don't have to face up to the punishment they deserve." They wanted to hear more, so I had the privilege of sharing the good news of Jesus there at that busy intersection.