The Everyday Club

11/10/10 Chris, about 28
I stopped a bicyclist (Chris) on the sidewalk by saying "Hey! I have a question for you!" He grew up in the U.S.Virgin Islands in a Rastifarian household, but abandoned these beliefs because he refused to worship its founder, Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. "I refuse to be beholden to anyone" he explained, and this also helped me see why he also rejects the idea of a Creator God who has rules he must follow. Chris seemed like a real free spirit, with many questions and open to consider new ideas about religion. He favors Buddhism, but had many questions about the Bible and Christianity, not for the purpose of trying to disprove it in order to avoid being held accountable, but because he really wanted to know more about it. Even though Chris hadn't changed his mind about God's existence, I was able to share the gospel clearly for 3 reasons: 1.) I was able to share what God reveals about himself in the Bible on the basis of the possibility that it is true, not because I had proven it as fact; 2.) I was able to continue talking about God on this same basis - acknowledging that Chris doesn't necessarily believe what I am saying but that he wants to know more about it nonetheless; 3.) I was able to share the gospel clearly in several ways - directly teaching it, sharing my own testimony, sharing why I share what I believe ("If such and such is true and our eternal fate is in question, then what kind of person would I be to withhold it from anyone?") We talked for almost an hour and he agreed that what I was saying made a lot of sense. I pray his heart will catch up to what his mind agrees to.