9/21/13 Fred about 21
Everyone
likes a story. A week into my “Parable
Project” – in which I have been asking random people for their reactions to one
of Jesus’ parables – I am discovering that one of the easiest ways to begin a
Gospel conversation is to ask people if they would be willing to give their
opinion about the meaning of a parable, and then to read it to them. The responses have been surprising and,
frankly, often discouraging as I realize how caught up in worldly thinking and
how far from spiritual truth many people are.
I’ve also been surprised to find great faith in unexpected places. One of these places was a self-described
physics nerd, Fred, a student at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He gave an explanation of the Parable of the
Wheat and Weeds that would put many pastors and Bible scholars to shame, mainly
because he wasn’t afraid to back down from the difficult truths that this
parable conveys. We went on to discuss
the issue of free-will verses predestination, an issue we really can’t avoid if
we want to have an honest discussion of who the “people of the kingdom” are and
who the “people of the evil one” are (see Matthew 13) Fred had a very nerdy but effective way of
explaining it, which I’ll show on an attached video clip. We ended up agreeing that we all begin not as
children of God but as children of the evil one – an unpopular idea to be sure –
and that we can’t just change from weeds to wheat by our own effort or by a
gradual change. We must die to our old
self and be born again as new creatures in Christ, a radical transformation
which Fred also explained very well on the video clip. I was so impressed with Fred’s
responses. My interview request was
completely random and unexpected, yet Fred fulfilled the command of 1 Peter 3:15 to “Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” Sadly, at least in my experience, not many who
identify themselves as Christians whom I’ve met on the streets have been able
to do that. See "Fred the Nerdy Christian"
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