We were running a little late on Saturday, and there was someone else set up at the post office playing guitar. So, we went a block down to 6th St and set up in front of Urban Outfitters. We hadn't been at this location in quite a while.
Brandt and Joe showed up a little later, and we passed out tracts and did some Open Air. There seemed to be a lot of homosexuals ready to argue tonight. Four young girls who said they were lesbians came and talked with Tom for a while, but they just wanted the free glow sticks, and weren't convicted at all. They eventually lost interest and left, but returned later for their glow sticks. You can a video clip of this encounter at Tom's Blog.
Some obnoxious drunk women that were walking by thought they should stop and scream at us for a while. Of course they were offended because they thought that they could call themselves "Christians" while they stumble around in a drunken stupor without anyone questioning them about it.
This is a sad example of what happens when the Law is not used to show our need of a Savior, they don't understand their transgression, or that they deserve punishment in hell for it. They cannot comprehend the great sacrifice to save us from the punishment that we all deserve and they trample the Son of God underfoot (Heb 10:29). They have been taught unbiblical teachings that say "we're all God's children" (John 1:12, Col 1:21, 1 John 3:10) and think that He will simply overlook their lifestyle of sin (2 Tim 2:19) as some corrupt judge might do. This produces false converts, sometimes referred to as "Carnal Christians." They know just enough about Christianity to become innoculated from the truth and are much harder to reach, even when sober.
They are very angry when asked to examine themselves to see if they are in the faith or not (2 Cor 13:5), and while they curse at us and threaten violence against us, we remember the words of Jesus, that you'll know them by their fruit (Matt 7:16-20).
One of them even came back later to complain about how offended her drunk friend was, and how unloving and judgmental that we were. All typical responses of anger when their seared conscience (1 Tim 4:1-2) is touched by the conviction of God's Law that's already written on their hearts (Rom 2:15). They will do their best to continue to supress that knowledge so that they can continue in their sins guilt-free, thinking that they're saved because they claim to believe in Jesus (James 2:19, 1 John 2:3). Please pray that God would work in them, revealing Himself to them and convicting them that they might be saved. I once believed similar ideas as they do, but by the grace of God, He pulled me away from that and showed me my erroneous thinking (Eph 2:3). If I can be saved, so can they.
A guy named Brian and his son Hunter stopped by on their bikes. We talked to him for a while. He said he was a believer, but was timid about sharing his faith. I gave him a book by Ray Comfort, and we invited him to a free seminar in order to become equipped to share his faith better, and Biblically.
Another guy was listening nearby, and then came over to talk with me for a little while. He was wondering how many Gods we believed there were, and so we tried to explain the Trinity to him. He left, but said he would be back, and brought more of his Muslim friends to discuss their beliefs.
I took one of them through the Good Person Test, but he wasn't really listening, just biding his time until he could state his objections to Christianity with all the same old arguments - the Trinity, the idea that the Bible has been corrupted, and a few others. I had heard all of these before, but was a little rusty with my answers, since I hadn't used them in a while.
It's so easy to fall into debate, when what we should have done was simply brought it back around to the Ten Commandments. Muslims accept Moses as a prophet, and so the Law that he was given would apply. We need to remember to always bring it back to the Good Person Test, the guilt under the Law, leading to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Had we kept on track, it would have been a much more productive conversation. As it was, it ended up just being a bit of a debate, but still an interesting conversation. Maybe we'll see these guys out there again in the future.
Soli Deo Gloria
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