Why Me?

10/30/14       Jack           about 25

“What made you want to stop and talk to me, of all the people out here?” a man named Jack asked me near the end of our half-hour conversation out on a fairly busy sidewalk.  He had appreciated a clear presentation of the Gospel, asking me “why didn’t they explain it like this in my Catholic school or at church when I was growing up?”  I had tried to be fair, saying that when Christianity gets taught in school or in a formal setting it often comes across more as a religion with a set of rules and rituals rather than the living relationship with God that it really is.  In answer to his “why me?” question I told Jack that he looked like he might have some time to talk, but he was amazed at the timing, saying that he thought God had a great sense of humor to send me to talk to him right when he needed to hear it the most.  Jack hadn’t asked his question about why I stopped to talk to him in order to be critical – he was actually asking it out of amazement!  I remember when I first started initiating conversations on the streets, I was afraid of a question like this because I was afraid of the criticism of a stranger. But we can’t let the possibility of this question intimidate us into not sharing the Gospel. After all, it’s better to share the Gospel with one person in a crowd than with none at all!