I recently joined a men's bible study group through my church. We typically meet on Wednesday nights at a Starbucks located within a local King Soopers grocery store. It's not a big group, usually no more than three to five of us at a time. We pretty much dive into the scripture from the previous Sunday service. Our conversations last night got into some of the prejudices we experienced in life and how in our particular community we don't face a lot of the social issues we see across the country due to our demographics. We agreed that we need to be challenged at times regarding our faith and our compassion towards others. Little did I know that God would take us up on our request so quickly.
I noticed during our session that a younger fellow sitting across the room with a couple of friends would periodically look over at us. On a couple of occasions he walked by to either throw away some trash or refill his water, each time walking a little closer to our group trying to listen in on our conversations. As we were about to wrap up with our closing prayers he made his way over to us. This is where the fun began.
He hesitated when he approached, not wanting to interrupt us. Our pastor assured him that he was welcome. At first he genuinely seemed interested in what we were doing, asking us about our group and what we were discussing. But it quickly became clear he had another agenda. His questions were not about gaining a better understanding for himself but rather to challenge us in our beliefs.
He started pulling out random lines of scripture to try and prove some point that basically no one is saved. He tried to suggest that any relationship with God would only be offered to a select few which really had nothing to do with faith. It was clear to me that even with all this vast knowledge he possessed about the contents of the Bible he was not a person of faith. He started grilling us on whether we could recite the Ten Commandments or if we knew what a particular verse in the Bible was. I don't know about you but I couldn't recite every chapter and verse of the Bible in any great shakes. Several times he would stop to ask if he should leave and stated he didn't want to make us mad, each time looking at me when he said it. I guess I never really did have a good poker face. Perhaps he thought I was going to explode or worse yet, fly across the room and pound him. To be honest those thoughts did cross my mind a couple of times.
Finally at one point Pastor Steve and another gentleman from our group, Stan, offered to have this man join us so we could pray for him. He bristled and said, "Why would I want to pray with someone who doesn't know the Bible?" Well, that was it for me. Now I generally stayed quiet throughout this exchange but now I had to chime in. "You mean to tell me that if we could answer ALL of your questions, the way you want them to be answered and we could recite each line and verse of the Bible, you'd sit down and pray with us?" His stammer was all the proof I needed. I told him that I questioned his intentions about why he approached us in the first place. I admitted I can't recite every verse in the Bible nor explain every nuance of each Gospel. But I do know that Jesus is my Lord and Savior and no amount of
brow beating is going to change my faith."
brow beating is going to change my faith."
Yeah to say I was a bit spun up was an understatement. Last night certainly pointed out my spiritual flaws in high definition. My insecurities stemming from my lack of knowledge about the contents of the Bible does put me on the defensive at times when I'm confronted. All I can say is I know what I know. There's an understanding, a truth within me that can't be explained in words. Even without a Bible in hand I know my relationship with God through Jesus is real. No amount of lawyer-speak and word twisting is going to convince me otherwise.
I know this guy was basically trying to pick a spiritual fight and unfortunately I let him get under my skin. It wasn't until later as I was driving home that I understood that this poor guy is essentially lost. Somewhere along in his life he was convinced that he wasn't good enough. Someone sold him a bill of goods that his life and his soul didn't matter. I think the episode last night was an attempt on his part to reach out and find someone that would say he was OK. I realize that it's not enough just to have faith. For those of faith we have a responsibility to share our faith and provide comfort to those who are suffering, especially to those that don't even know they are. I know the next time this type of situation presents it'll be helpful to have a stronger grasp on the contents of the Bible but more importantly I need to bring forth more compassion and patience. It's always been in my nature to want to fight back when I get attacked. I just pray I can do it from a position of love rather than anger.
Here's to doing it better next time.
Here's to doing it better next time.
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