Cinco de Mayo and the Million Dollar Bill

Saturday, May 3 was our local Cinco de Mayo celebration at Finlay Park in Columbia, SC. Many consider Cinco de Mayo to be Mexican Independence Day but this is only correct to a certain point. Mexican Independence Day is actually in September. Visit Viva Cinco de Mayo (just one site among so many) for a brief history of the celebration.



I was blessed to have friends join me from Calvary Chapel Lexington and Columbia International University for a day of evangelism in the park.



Overall, I estimate we were able to distribute at least 600 tracts—I am sure much more were distributed, but I did not count. Below, watch Steve pass out Millions:



This is Kel, passing out tracts. He’s cool. I’m glad he came along and I am excited to see what God is going to be doing in his life as he learns to share the gospel.



A minute or so after this video was captured, a lady came down the steps and was handed a Million Dollar Bill. Her eyes grew wide, “Is this real?” She asked, almost breathless, turning it over in her hands.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, “It’s a genuine fake Million-Dollar Bill. The best part is the question on the back. Did you see what it said?”

She looked for the question. I said, “the Million-Dollar question is ‘Would you consider yourself to be a ‘good person?’”

“Yes, I believe I am,” she smiled back, holding onto the bill with both hands.

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

“Yes, I believe I have,” she still smiled back.

“Ok,” I went on. “Let’s take a little test to see, alright?” She agreed.

“Have you ever told a lie?” I began.

“No,” she said. I think she was stunned, trying to figure out the “money.”

“Have you ever told a white lie, a fib,” (she shook her head saying “no”), “a half-truth, an exaggeration . . .” She continued signaling “no.”

“Have you ever stolen anything?” I went on.

“No,” she said, smiling, holding her Million-Dollar Bill with both hands.

“You’ve never taken anything that belonged to someone else for yourself without asking? You’ve never ‘borrowed’ anything for an extended period of time and not taken it back? You’ve never taken anything without paying for it?” She said “no” to every question.

I went on, unflustered. “Have you ever committed murder?” We laughed together because it just sounds absurd. She told me “no” and she also said she’d never hated anyone or wished anyone dead. I asked if she drove a car to find out if anyone has ever cut her off—no car.

“Have you kept the First Commandment?” I asked.

The smile slipped from her face as she thought. “I think I have. I’m sure I have.” She thought for a moment, “yes, I have.” She concluded.

“What is it?” I asked. She did not know. She would not take her eyes off me.

“The First Commandment is that you will have no other god before the true and living God. Can you say with a clear conscience that you have always loved Him with all you’re your heart, mind, soul and strength every moment of every day of your life?” Now she was staring hard at me, eyes unmoving. She seemed transfixed. She processed the thought. Then she said, “Yes, yes I have.” And she smiled.

I was not going to let this go any further. “Think about something for a moment. In the Bible God says that none have sought after Me and that every person has turned to his or her own way (referring to Romans 3:10ff). That creates a problem because either you are lying or God is lying. Since we know that God cannot lie, you must be, so now do you know what you’ve done?”

Her eyes were glued to mine. “What?” she said, now holding tightly to her Million Dollar Bill.

“You’ve broken the 9th commandment. That means you lied because I am very positive you’ve not loved God every minute of every day with all your being. Isn’t it true that we love our friends a little more, or our stuff? Perhaps we’ve gotten so wrapped up in our circumstances that we’ve forgotten about God? Would you say this was true?”

She hung her head and admitted, “yes, that’s true.”

“Also, think about how you’ve broken the 2nd Commandment, making a god of your own understanding. God of the Bible says that nobody seeks after Him, so He comes after us. Would you say you’ve misunderstood God?” She agreed she had.

“So by your own admission you’ve lied, you’ve not loved God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and you’ve made an idol for yourself. That’s three of the 10 Commandments, broken. If God were to judge you by the Ten Commandments, would you be innocent or guilty?” I pressed.

“Guilty,” she said, hanging her head but not letting go of that bill with either hand.

“Would you go to heaven or hell,” I went on. She looked right in my eyes again and did not say anything. I let her think about it for a minute.

“What about forgiveness?” She finally asked.

I taught her the scripture. “The Bible says that God has a place for liars and idolaters. It’s the same place He has for thieves, adulterers, murderers and so many other kinds of people who have not turned from their sin, and that place is not Heaven—do you know what it is?”

“Yes, it’s hell,” she admitted.

I could finally move on now that we had that reality settled. “Now, about forgiveness. What do you know about forgiveness?”

“Well, we can ask God to forgive us and He does it . . . right?” I was rejoicing at her asking!

“Yes, and no.” I wanted her to grasp the seriousness of God’s plan. I showed her that if God lets the wicked go, he is worse than the criminal. I explained that because God is just and holy, he cannot simply say to the wicked “you are righteous.” God cannot simply “just forgive.” The wages of sin is death—that’s what we deserve, so if God is just and death is the result, forgiveness comes through a payment.

I showed her Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinner, Christ died for us.” Christ payed the penalty for our sin by dying the death we deserved. In order to be forgiven, we must repent; that is, turn from our sin and place our trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

I told her how “it is written that Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day” and there must be repentance for forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:46-47). She understood.

Then I asked her, “is there any reason why you could not, right now this moment, confess your sins to God, confess He is Lord believing that He raised from the dead in order to save you?”

“No,” she said, quietly. “I will do it.”

So she bowed her head and prayed, releasing her hold on the Million-Dollar Bill.