6/27/12 Danny,
19
Three teenagers
were waiting in the shade for some friends to show up at the soccer field, so I
went over to see if they would be willing to talk about their spiritual
beliefs. "I have a crazy question
for you". They looked at each
other, not sure where this was going. "What
do you think happens after this life?
What comes next?" "We
go to heaven" was their simple reply.
"Everyone?" "No...The
bad people end up in hell" This
started a long conversation with one of the three, Danny, 19, while his two
friends were just content to sit and listen. Danny attends weekly mass at his church, but
doesn't read the Bible. "Why
not?" I asked. "Well the priest
told us that if we don't understand the Bible we shouldn't read it because it
will do more harm than good". Instead
of biblical teachings, Danny believes in many strange religious theories that
obviously came from cable TV shows. He
thought many of these ideas came from the Bible, and because he doesn't read it
he has no way to tell the difference. The
only way to tell a counterfeit is to study the real thing, so I had to disagree
with what his priest told him. "You
need to read the Bible for yourself.
There are many parts that are easy to understand, and if you are
obedient to follow what you read there, the rest will start to make sense
too" I told him. In addition to a
thorough explanation of the Gospel, I gave them some practical advice on how to
red the Bible. We live in a society that
has become biblically illiterate, and the last thing we need to tell people is
not to read the Bible if they don't understand it!
1 comment:
If the young man wants understanding the LORD will surely grant it. Well done Jeff encouraging him to read his Bible. Maybe you can encourage that priest to conduct Bible Studies for those who don't understand. Although that may do more harm than good.
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