Can I Go Now?
A young street evangelist had finished explaining the plan of salvation to a man who then prayed to receive Christ. He was assured that he was saved and going to Heaven when he died. The evangelist then asked the man,
“Would you like to join our men’s discipleship group?”
“What’s that?” he asks.
“Well, we meet at 6 am on Tuesdays for breakfast, Bible Study and prayer.”
He smiles and replies, “I really don’t think that’s for me.”
“Well, would you like to visit our church? We’ve got a great pastor.”
“Nah, Sunday morning is my golf time.” After further reflection he asks, “But I’m still going to Heaven aren’t I?”
“Well yes, but . . . .”
“But what? You said that the only thing I needed to do was believe these things about God and Jesus and accept Him as my savior and I did that. You said it wasn’t about doing anything else. You said that if I doubted my salvation it was Satan lying to me. Are you now saying that there’s something more I need to do?”
“Well no, but don’t you want to get to know God better?”
“No, I don’t think so right now. But I am going to Heaven - right? Can I go now?”
If this young evangelist spoke to you afterward about this experience, what would you tell him?
1) Would you commend him for his good work?
2) Would you tell him that you don’t think the message “took”? If so, why didn’t it take? The man did what he was told to do. Did God fail to show up? What should he have done differently?
3) Would you tell him that only God knows the final outcome of this encounter?
What if you saw that man six months later and asked how his “walk with Christ” was going and he said “What walk?”
[I'm preparing a dialog of what I would say to this earnest young evangelist.]
GGS 7/2016