"Results"

2/18/13        Patrick and Linus,      both about 30

“Where are the results from your ministry?” the pastor of a large church once asked me.  This is an important question, but it is important to ask it with a biblical mindset rather than one based on our modern, corporate understanding of “results”.  I was tempted to revert to that  secular understanding after a frustrating conversation at a Dunkin’ Donuts yesterday with two young men, Patrick and Linus.  Patrick is Asian-American and believes in some sort of afterlife, but not in any sort of personal God, and Linus is a Catholic from Germany who claims to know Greek and Hebrew and demonstrated an academic knowledge of the origins of the Bible.  He held to opposing beliefs that the Catholic Church is the only true church - calling all non-Catholic churches apostates - and that other world religions are equally valid in man’s pursuit of God.  The conversation was frustrating in several ways: a.) Linus claimed inside knowledge of the original Greek and Hebrew meanings of biblical words which I couldn’t confirm nor deny; b.) he couldn’t follow my explanations either because of a language barrier or because he simply didn’t want to;  and c.) because all his friend Patrick seemed to hear was two religious people in an endless debate.  I felt it would have been more of a benefit to Patrick if we had talked about his beliefs and questions, but Linus was the more outspoken of the two, so eventually Patrick grew tired of our debate and asked if we could finish because it wasn’t going anywhere.  He was right, and I respectfully ended the discussion.  So, bottom line, what was the “result” of my ministry in that conversation?  I don’t know.  I do know I stepped out in obedience to proclaim the Gospel.  I also know it is times like this when I most closely relate to the faithful men and women of old who were commended for their faith in Hebrews 11, “who did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.”