Just Do It

Yesterday, around mid-afternoon, I went “sharing” with a second year student. This basically is going to people in the cafe and asking if they'd be open to having an honest discussion about spiritual matters. When I first heard about this it struck me as a little odd and knowing the heavily secular mindset of the world at large today I would have guessed that those who go sharing meet with a lot of rejections before finding someone willing to talk.

Much to my surprise, however, Marvin (the other student) and I had two good conversations that lasted almost half an hour each. Well, actually Marvin mostly had the conversations while I listened to everything going on (but yes I did say something in each, don't worry). To be honest, this was a little surprising for me; I was expecting a more rapid-fire session, going an average of five to ten minute per person in the cafe.

The discussions themselves were interesting. We had a short questionnaire to keep conversation and discussion going and generally we just worked through the list of questions. The first person we approached had a very interesting view on the world; he had been raised in, from what I could tell, a pretty traditionalist Christian family which gave him no real experience with what Christianity is truly about. He had a hard time with some of the principles of grace and salvation by faith alone. When we tried to explain that the works are not necessary for salvation he argued back that to him, people were more important that God and that we should prioritize treating others kindly (cue sarcastic comments here). Obviously Marvin and I explained as best we could how faith produces works and faith without works is dead (even though works are not needed for salvation). Ultimately I think he understood but could not believe that faith was so powerful as to change the naturally sinful and selfish nature of mankind.

The next person didn't have the strongest English in the world, meaning the conversation was a good deal slower and more basic as we both had a hard time understanding what the other was saying. With this person, however, we managed to get into the whole free will issue as stated that one of the questions he had regarded why some people are healthy, wealthy, and wise (not generally true but it's a quote bear with me) and some are the complete opposite. To explain that we tried giving a brief to complete explanation about how sin came into the world and ran into a hang-up on the concept of free will. That was certainly a new thing; I've debated free will/predestination plenty in omnibus class with fellow Christians who understand core doctrines (at least, I hope they do) and expressing oneself in that situation can be complicated enough already. Just imagine trying it with someone who doesn't speak much English nor has any Christian background at all (not even culturally).

However, the most surprising event of the hour was when we finished both conversations. We went upstairs, closed in prayer, and then Marvin reminded me about how back at the beginning of the year when he shared his story of starting to go sharing in the cafe another guy and I both said it wasn't likely either of us would be able to do that. And yet there I was, not even three months later, maybe even less than two, out doing what I said I'd probably never be able to do. I'm not sure if this next fact should worry me, but I had absolutely no recollection whatsoever of having said that, and it was only after a few more memory triggers that I managed to recover a vague recollection.

But anyways, there you go. I'm not going to really provide any intended “message” or “moral” from this little story. I'll leave that up to you.

And yes, there is a cookie in guessing where I got this last paragraph from.