Making room for our group of ten, we pulled some tables together in the garage-esque restaurant that Drew had chosen for our late night – post parent launch dining experience. As we settled in, looked over the menu, and engaged in conversation with one another, we were a rather unsuspecting group, but if I’ve learned anything about the Spirit of God, He chooses to minister when we least expect Him to.
“preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:2
This felt like one of those nights where we were “out of season.” We’d been in leadership training for two weeks and had spent the day traveling and registering all of the racers that are launching in this window and were aware that the weeks of training ahead would be especially grueling. That being said, we’d simply gone out to grab some food and to soak in our last night all together. Most of the people around the table had been on my original squad and it brings us a whole lot of joy when we get to be together.
Just before we got our food, Justin was moved by the Spirit to pray for a man that was sitting at the bar, so he obeyed, prayed for the man, and then rejoined us at our table. After a while, a totally different gentleman named Y came to us and began to ask us about Jesus.
“Did you know He wasn’t a white man?”
“Do you know that what you believe about Jesus is derived from Egyptian History?”
Eventually, after a bit of discussion, Y asked us a bigger question “Would it rock your world if I told you that Jesus Christ is a myth?”
Realizing that our world was not, in fact, rocked by this false information, he settled down and walked away and left us praying as we were prompted by the Spirit. We prayed against many things including witchcraft, and we prayed for his salvation.
It wasn’t long before Y returned to our table and asked us some questions. He wasn’t seemingly interested in everything that we had to say, rather, we were quite aware that he was only asking us to share our thoughts so that he could prove a point, but we went around the table as he requested.
Question number 1: What is religion to you?
One by one, we shared our thoughts and he heard the Gospel from all ten of us.
Question number 2: What is spirituality to you?
Again, we rounded the table one by one, sharing our thoughts and giving him the Gospel ten times.
At some point in the conversation, he was intrigued by the concept that we owed a debt that we could not pay and Jesus took care of that for us. He paused and looked right at the person speaking and he made this statement: “ So it’s just like this… Thank you, Jesus, for whipping out your MasterCard??” Almost as if he was trying to convince us that if we’re as sinful as we say we are, Jesus paying the penalty was too simple of a solution. Aaannnndddd Honestly…. I’m thankful that the Gospel is that simple; that there’s not some expectation put on me that I have to do something or earn atonement for my sin.
Y didn’t let us sit in that dialogue for too long because, as we’d predicted, he had a point to make and he moved us right along into a conversation that was seemingly rooted in pain that he’d been caused by White Christians in the past. We heard him out for a while and eventually had to cut the conversation off due to the rising tension at the table.
After we cleaned up our table a bit, we took our leave and I was stopped by our waiter who was blown away by what had just happened. Apparently Y is a regular customer at their restaurant and pretty frequently bothers other guests to a more rowdy extent. He was most curious to know how we convinced him to hear us out. Y almost never allows the people he’s interacting with in that setting to get a word in, but he went around our table twice to hear us out.
I got to share the Gospel with him emphasizing God’s pursuit of His people and how he draws us in by His Spirit and while our guy didn’t surrender to Jesus, he ALSO heard the Gospel and witnessed His power at work. It wasn’t a radical healing or water being turned into wine that caught his attention. It was peace in an environment that has always been disruptive and chaotic.
God shows up for His kids, always. Who are we to decide when, where, or how that should happen? We’re called to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”
Chew on this thought with me and then share your thoughts in the comments: Our obedience increases the capacity at which the Spirit of God moves, not only in us, but in the people around us. He’s not depending on us, but choosing to use us as vessels of power and peace and revelation.
I’m filled to the brim with gratitude that I get to be here leading this squad in this season and I’m looking forward to the next five months with great anticipation and expectancy for what God is sure to do.
Would you consider making a one time OR monthly donation to me as I partner with Jesus to reach the hardest, the darkest, and the lost?
You are a joy to know. Do you believe that?
I love you.
AWM
