6/6/12 Elmer,
about 17
A
young man named Elmer walked up to us while I was talking with his friend about
his spiritual beliefs. Elmer listened
for a while, and when his friend left to answer a phone call he continued the
conversation. He clearly enjoyed talking
about different spiritual theories and beliefs.
"It's really cool we can talk about these things instead of all the
stupid s_____ me and my friends talk about" he said. Elmer is part of a Chicago street gang, and
his gang buddies swirled around us, going about their usual posturing and
drama, but Elmer was fixated on our conversation. What really got his attention was not only my
use of the Ten Commandments to show him the true nature of his rebellion
against God, but also a discussion of the excuses he uses to try to justify
breaking them. The very fact that he
feels the need to make up excuses helped Elmer to see that he already knows he
is accountable to God. At first he had
been questioning God's existence, but now he was more concerned that he does
not have a right relationship with Him.
Too often we fail to take advantage of one of the most important
witnessing tools God has given us - the unbeliever's own conscience. Paul writes of this in Romans 2:15 - ".... their consciences also bearing witness..." God's grace just doesn't make sense - or
even worse, is seen as being cheap - without the use of the law to show people
who they are without it and why they need forgiveness. Please pray for Elmer, that his conscience
will help him see his need for God's amazing grace that was expressed at the
cross of Jesus.
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