Today was fall break, thankfully a break that included me jetting home to Michigan for some R&R. Something happened though that stuck out to me. On my way to RB (the tech building) on Ball State's campus I walked hurriedly by a pair of young men dressed in white & black suits. They were holding a sign on a wooden bench, trying to make eye contact with people. I thought they looked like the men in black, although a Will Smith was no where to be found and these guys were whiter than skim milk. The sign said "...Mormon..."... that explained the cloths. The boy (he didn't look older than 20) caught me staring at the sign and asked, "you know anything about Mormonism?". My eyes shifted from the poster to him as I hurriedly walked past them, "I'm Christian". I exclaimed in a louder than normal voice and my gaze quickly returned to my destination, the RB building. I could hear as I was walking away one of the young men asked "What did he say?...", and I think the other one exclaimed "He said he was Christian...". By then I had almost reached the building when it dawned on me.... what had I done? Here as a believer I am aways "called to give a reason for this hope that I believe"...that hope is Jesus, and they needed him more than I needed to get to RB. Guilt began to set in, I had a opportunity to wittiness and I hadn't taken it. "Why"? I asked myself. First reason, I didn't feel like defending the faith and getting into a long debate when I was on a deadline.... not an excuse! Second, it was fall break and I had only two hours to get everything done so I could leave. As I was doing my business in RB, those previous events haunted my psyche. "I am a Christian"... the words echoed in my head with a haunting sensation. Great, what had I done!?! The impression I had probably given them is that us so called "Christians" don't have time for them, were to busy involved in our own world. But I knew Christians like me should always have time to listen to those who's religion is different from our own. Not only do we need to show God's love for them and the truth of the Cross... but we need to also show them we value them as God does. These boys took time out of their day, and I couldn't even give them a second. Well, as you can tell, Jesus called me out on it, thankfully. Next time the situation arises, I will make the right choice. I can be so selfish, thankfully God works through situations like these to shape us into who he wants us to be. Sorry to my brothers and sisters out there for giving us a bad name, and if you see these Mormon friends... please say a few words for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment