At work I was sitting next to a man who I have worked with for a couple of years. There was a pep assembly today so our job was to sit and make sure that the violence was controlled and orderly. While chatting about the year, he asked me why I would want to be a missionary in France. I told him about the spiritual climate in France while in my head I was preparing a strategy to share. I decided to ask him if he had any spiritual beliefs, and just as I assumed, he is into Native American spirituality. His appearance exudes pride in his cultural background. I am a little familiar with this type of belief because of some of the conversations that I have had in the past, but an easy way to dig further into a spiritual conversation is to ask many questions. Do you believe in God? How is your belief similar to the Bible? What do you believe happens to you when you die?
From my questions I learned that his belief is typical of other religions and that his objections to Christianity were not unique. Treat others as you would like to be treated and do good deeds was his montra. Christianity was unattractive because of all the hyprocrites. Once I assessed his beliefs, I asked him if I could tell him what the Bible says about life after death and if he could tell me how his beliefs are different. I did this so that he could hear the truth and then see that his foundation was built on sand. He agreed and I proceeded to walk him through the Ten Commandments. I immediatly saw his face begin to change when I asked him how his religion could get him past a God of justice who would not clear the guilty. He pondered for a moment and responded, "I don't know. I have never been taught how to respond to that." He smiled as if he now had something to think about. I was very gentle and my demeanor was more curious than matter of fact. The assembly was over when he patted me on the back and commented, "I appreciate you." I'm not sure what he meant by that, but it may mean his eyes have been opened.
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