Lazy Evangelism Tackles Tough Questions

What I like about wandering around talking to random people is that it's like an adventure or a scavenger hunt. You never know when you're going to run into someone truly fascinating. I got lucky today when I mistakenly believed I was on the right street to get me to this bakery. It was after 3 and I hadn't eaten lunch yet. I stopped into one cute cafe which had just closed and they recommended another shop about a block away. I did not think I was actually going the right way so I jumped into this coffee shop to get out of the biting wind and below freezing temperature. As is custom, I asked the first person I saw about the bakery. Perhaps I confused him, or we were talking about different places- I actually think I got two streets mixed up- either way, it became a much longer interaction than just him pointing me in the right direction. I began to see potential in the conversation. I weighed the possibility of good discussion verses the only visible option of just having a bagel for lunch. I decided to ask if there was more food. If there was more than a bagel, I'd stay and chat. If not, I go in search of the bakery. God must have been smiling on the encounter because there was chicken dumpling soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.

I told the man I'd call him Coffee Shop Musician because he teaches music and plays jazz- an instant connection from my trombone playing jazz band days. I noticed he had a bracelet with some weird symbol on it that turned out to be some funky Ohm I've never seen before. I asked him if he believes in New Age or takes yoga. He then showed me that he also wears a cross. That seemed contradictory to me, but he explained he doesn't really believe in one way to God and basically thinks all religion is a myth. He believes in each individual's ability to be a good person and to treat other people well and that will be the basis of judgment at the end of it all- if there is more after we clock out here.

Now, I suppose plenty of people have been to evangelism training and have learned strategies to tackle this common belief in "being a good person." I guess what they teach you is to ask how good is good enough, and then say that only Jesus was perfect and that's why he had to die for a sacrifice for our sins. True enough. But seriously people, if someone doesn't believe the Bible, or in any Scripture for that matter, how far do you get just telling them what you believe about the Bible? Why should they care?

Then people get into apologetics about the historical accuracy of the Bible, and all this other stuff about how old the earth is, and so on and so on. I'm telling you, Coffee Shop Musician had some dang good questions. Like what about natural disasters? Does God not have the power to stop them or does he just not care? Why is there only one way to salvation? How can you trust Scripture when there are contradictions? Why do all the Baptists say God is so judgmental and hates everybody?

Can YOU answer these questions easily? If so you probably haven't taken enough time to really think about hard questions in life, such as what to do with suffering. I hope it's going out of style to just throw pat Bible verses at people.

Really the only way that makes any sense for me to explain why there is suffering is the traditional free will explanation. Natural disasters come from a fallen creation, which suffered from a fallen humanity. God allows choice to enable us to be sons and not slaves. God wants us to be free to love, and by allowing us choice, we can also be free to be violent, and commit genocide, and everything else.

But what we really have to ask ourselves is, what does Jesus offer that no other religion offers? Morality? Nope. Principles of how to be generous and compassionate and loving towards others? Nope. Meaning, fulfillment, purpose? Nope- people find a lot of purpose in jihad. So what is it that separates Christ from Buddha, or Mohammad, or Ganesh? What makes our Bible more truthful and reliable than any other religious text?

I believe it is the hope that there is redemption for suffering. And the empowerment to do more than we can through our own efforts by the Holy Spirit. And especially grace. Every other religion is based on works and human efforts to be righteous in order to earn merit or salvation.

I had this great revelation last night about this. Most people know about John the Baptist. He was the cousin of Jesus who become the forerunner for Jesus' ministry by preaching a baptism of repentance. He is one of my all-time favorites in the Bible because he was a super non-conformist. But did you ever realize what John's name means? I love to know what names mean. Mine means "consecrated to God" or "oath of God." John's name means "God is gracious." So John was taking people from the Old Testament system of law and sacrifice and was ushering in a new era of the forgiveness of sins by grace through faith in Jesus! How cool is that?

So getting back to my new friend the Coffee Shop Musician... I knew I was not going to answer all, or even most, of his questions. We shouldn't try to. I have plenty of questions I can't answer. But what I do know is that questions about natural disasters and such stem from a deeper desire to really answer unsettled issues about the character and trustworthiness of God. Is God loving? Is He kind? Does He just want to punish me and send me to Hell?

If these are the questions, I have a better solution than shoving Scripture down someone's throat. Introduce the person to the love of God. So before we parted, I told him how I love to bless people and asked him if I could pray with him and ask God how I can bless him. I asked him what he would like from God, and suggested perhaps something having to do with a broken relationship. He thought for a second and then said he'd like to be at peace about his fractured relationship with his parents. I prayed for him about it, and threw in some added requests for him to find good shoes. His beloved, but sorely worn pair, had rubber soles which he had recently reattached with shoe glue. As he had gotten them in Europe and could find no replacement anywhere, I thought finding an even better pair would be miraculous enough to start with!

And then I gave him a hug. People need hugs. Unless they're creepy. Oh, and I even got a free jazz cd of his out of the deal! I'm eager to listen to it :)