“No! No ‘Jesus’!”

Walking through the mall can be an adventure because of the many kiosks, each dispensing a wide variety of products (lotions, nail-care, teeny frogs, goldfish, remote-controlled gadgets, etc) onto the world. Some kiosk attendants stand out far enough in the aisle with samples to “grab” people for their sales pitch that contact can be nearly unavoidable. But I come prepared for “malling” (do they use that term anymore?). In my fanny pack (which I sling over my shoulder) I carry any tracts that I cannot fit into my shirt pockets. I also carry business-card sized tracts in my pants pockets.

I find some kiosk-attendants quite bored, so tracts are great boredom busters. Since security guards interpret what I do as “soliciting” (but it is not soliciting because I am not selling anything—tract distribution is “canvassing”) I don’t have many one-on-one conversations with attendants—they are more interested in selling, not conversing. But I’ve discovered that these bored attendants are not part of the same company, and are not as aggressive. I find the tension between what some attendants do and what I do to be intriguing, so I use their spring-board to sales as my own. When I am able (hard to do with family), I walk near the kiosks, so I can be stopped.

And boy, did I get stopped. One young man got into my path with a tray of lotion samples, “the finest in the world.” Now, understand that when one of these kiosk attendants does this, one should specifically listen for the particular accent in speech. This is a major clue that tells me that most kiosk attendants (specifically the aggressive ones) are not American. Most of the products they sell may be imported; nevertheless, I believe this group works for one company though their products may be varied.

Lotion-man offered me a cup with a dot of white puff in the middle. I declined with “thanks for stopping me,” and produced one of my own samples from my pocket—an I.Q. Test, with the gospel on the back. “Here, this is for you.”

“What’s this?” he asks, looking at the card. “Do you have this in another language?”

“No,” I replied, “What language do you read?”

“I am from Israel, and do not read English well,” he explained. As I said before, it does not take long to learn that many people selling from these kiosks are from out-of-town.

“What is this?” he asked.

“On the front is an I.Q. Test, that is just an example to show a person how deceptive the eyes can be—and if you can’t trust your eyes, how do you know if you can trust your heart.” I explained.

“Oh,” he said looking at the card again. “Something to make you THINK! I like!” he smiled back, holding up the card.

I continued. “On the back is the gospel . . .”

He froze. The smile disappeared. “What is the . . . ‘gospel’?”

“This is the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin . . “

He cut me off. “No ‘Jesus’!” One of his co-workers came over with a puzzled look on her face.

"No! No ‘Jesus’!” He repeated this louder.

I reached for my bag, “Could I please give you another gift?”

“No. I am a good Jew. I don’t need this ‘Jesus’ as I do my own my own thing. I believe what I believe and do good,” he explained—but still keeping the card.

I looked him in the eye. “Have you kept ‘Torah’? Do you live by the law?”

“Yes, of course,” he shrugged.

“Do you think you’ve kept the Ten Commandments?” I asked.

He just looked at me. His mouth opened to say something, and nothing came out. The conversation was over. I told him to think about that question and to read the back of the I.Q. Test.

************

“Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” (Roman 3:19-20)