The Everyday Club

I went to one of our church's home groups this week to take one or two people out witnessing. We were prayed for by the group and then headed out into the neighborhood. We planned to return later to report on who we talked to and how it went, and to pray for them. In this way believers who wouldn't normally go out to witness get to experience it first-hand and the strange mix of joy and sorrow that so often comes with intentionally reaching out to share the gospel. Last night Phyllis and Isabel came out to witness with me, and they were shocked that the three people we talked to said they did not belief in God's existence. We talked first with Rene', a man who was waiting outside a park district fieldhouse for his wife and daughter. Rene' told us that he is happy as an unbeliever; that he has no need of belief in life after death; that it makes no difference to him that he won't see any loved ones after he dies; and that despite the evidence of creation and a creator all around us he not only views God's existence as improbable but impossible. It was a beautiful spring night, with the trees around us full of blossoms, and when his wife and young daughter joined him, we could see that he is indeed blessed and has reason to be happy. But who does he have to thank? Is one's personal happiness the sole purpose of one's existence? Phyllis and Isabel, who have both experienced God's comforting presence in the midst of recent personal tragedies, were surprised and saddened that Rene couldn't see God's hand in the midst of his blessings. We went on to talk with two young ladies who also refused to acknowledge God's existence. It was a reminder to us that, in this secularized era, the work of evangelism is not just to help people see their need for a Savior, but to help them see God in the first place.