The Everyday Club

7/1/11 Anthony and his young friends,    40, late teens
I went back to the same music production studio where a week ago I met a crowd of young white musicians filled with mockery and contempt for God and Christianity, including the two leaders who had come from a heavy church background. I hoped to see and talk with them again, but instead found a black group - their producer, Anthony, hanging out along with three teenage musicians. They wouldn't admit it at first, but after my questions I found out they all came from strong church backgrounds. However the three younger muscicians all seemed to defer to Anthony, who at first maintained that he didn't really believe in "God" but just a higher power of some sort, and that this life here, especially on Chicago's south side, was his idea of Hell. He theorized that if we don't get it right in this life we can always come back to try again. I listened to all this and more without judgment, just wanting to find out what they believe so as to know how best to speak some truth into their lives. I asked Anthony why he had rejected the Christian faith he had grown up in, but he denied this, and they all agreed that "we believe in the Bible, we just don't take it literally". Anthony's tune changed quickly, however, when I used the Ten Commandments to expose his sin and need for a savior. Suddenly not only Anthony but all of them were proclaiming their faith in Jesus - the faith they have grown up in but have been taking for granted. It was like they all had a hand of cards which included Jesus as their "wild card" - something they never used but that they kept on hand in case of emergency. We talked about what true repentence looks like and the importance of making the faith of their parents their own, and they all thanked me for stopping by to talk with them tonight.