We were still in the parking lot when I saw a young man and a young lady getting out of a car. He seemed like he was trying to be cute for his date, and she was irritated because he just could not seem to do anything right--poor guy. I approached them with a couple of
Pocket Testaments and said, "Can you believe a whole week has gone by since July 4? Did you guys get one of these?" They took the Testaments--yes, she was obviously mad at him for something and he thought it was funny.
"You guys heading down to the concert?" I asked.
"Yes," she pouted, crossing her arms.
"Did you have a good 4th of July?" I wanted to know.
"She did with her family. I had to work," he volunteered. I asked where he worked and he told me. She is about to enter her last year of high school. He graduated in May. She also told me she was considering law school in the future.
"When it come to the 4th of July, what things come to mind?" I prodded, to get a conversation going. They consulted each other about hot dogs, fireworks, family.
I wanted to go deeper (obviously). "When you think about 'freedom,' what come to mind? How do you think Americans in general view 'freedom?'" They had not really thought about it. He wanted to entertain the thought, she pouted at him with crossed arms, still mad about whatever he was doing before I arrived on the scene. I let them off the hook--a little.
"Do you think people today have the same view of freedom that our parents and grandparents do?" Obviously not. At least they agreed on something. We talked for a few minutes about the difference between freedom as "doing what you want" against "doing what you should." This thought caused the young man to become very serious--he savored the thought of the difference, acknowleding that freedom is doing what one should and how people take advantage of freedom. Then he asked, "you asked where I worked. What do you do?"
I told them I work at the
Seminary and School of Missions of
Columbia International Univeristy. I also told them (looking right at the girl, to get her attention) that I was interested in Law as well. That got her attention.
I asked both, "would you consider yourself to be a 'Good Person?" They both laughed when he said, "no" and she said, "yes."
"Ok, here's where I get interested in 'law'. You ready? 'Do you think you've kept the Ten Commandments?'" I asked. They agreed they had not. She took special interest in making certain I understood that HE had not . . .
"Have you ever lied?" They looked at each other and both admitted they had . . . and often. They admitting to being liars.
"Have you ever stolen anything?" They had, admitting to thievery in some detail.
"Ever murder anyone?" NO! Of course not! I pointed out that God sees hatred as murder and they quickly confessed to being serial killers. The smiles were disappearing.
"How about adultery. Ever done that?" They were quiet for a moment and almost at the same time said, "we're not married!" It does not matter as Jesus sees lust as adultery. Yes, they had.
I reminded them of their admissions and asked about innocence or guilt if judged by the Ten Commandments. They admitted guilt. Destiny: heaven or hell? He said "hell." She said, "heaven." He took a step back and told her about how she was certianly NOT going to heaven. Whatever she was mad about with him had disappeared and now I became the target as she began to school me on God being a forgiving God.
We talked in some detail about Revelation 21:8 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, about the unrighteous not inheriting the Kingdom of God. I stressed that the forgiveness He offers is bound up in the fact that Jesus died to pay the price for sin, and that they both needed to repent. Repentance and forgivness go together.
It got quiet. As I took them down the Romans Road in my open Bible, even the parking lot seemed to disappear. Every time I looked at a text, they looked and read. Every time I looked up, they looked me right in the eye. All the clowing and ribbing and feigned anger disappeared. She clung to his arm as I talked about death, judgment, crucifixion, forgiveness, and new life in Christ Jesus. I had them open those Pocket Testaments and showed them the diagrams of how sin separates us from God and there is nothing we can do to bridge the gap ourselves. God's love is seen in the cross of Christ.
He looked in my eyes and asked, "if we've all sinned, what makes you sure you are going to heaven and we are going to hell?" I shared my testimony, stressing not only how the Law revealed my heart, but how I repented and put my faith and trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I paused, then asked, "is there any reason why you could not, right here, right now, ask the Lord Jesus Christ to save you from the penalty and power of sin?"
They were quiet for a long time. She looked down. Then he told me what I was not expecting to hear, "I really want to do this, but I'm afraid. I don't want to mess it all up. I don't want to be a hypocrite, asking God to save me then go on and sin more in my life." Wow. We talked for a few minutes out of 1 John about walking in obedience and the need for ongoing forgiveness. The stress was on initial deliverance from the beginning.
I did not want to push, but I finally felt I'd said enough. Time for God to work. I gave them each a Romans Road tract and told them to read the Testaments. They thanked me for stopping and talking with them.
I saw them later in the park, sitting on bench. When our eyes met, they smiled and waved.
