Yesterday was my birthday and I was grateful to get to spend time with my family and to go witness at my favorite spot afterward. I am so thankful for the many conversations and everything that happened, but I wanted to share two dialogues that I found very interesting.
The first conversation that stuck out was with a girl to be around 17-18. I will attempt to record it the best I can recall, focusing on the main points as we talked for about 25 minutes.
ME: "Hi there! Did you get one of these?"
She looked really scared and I apologized if I had startled her.
HER: "No, what is it?"
ME: "It's a trillion dollar bill. It has the trillion dollar question on it. What do you think happens after death?"
HER: "Oh, wow...ummm..honestly I think there are different portals and we can just travel through them and go where we want."
ME: "Really? Where do you get that information from?"
HER: "My imagination. I also have some other thoughts on what happens."
ME: "Okay, well do you believe in a heaven or hell at all?"
HER: "Well, I grew up in private school so I know about the Bible, but I don't know."
ME: "I understand, if there is a heaven do you think you would be good enough to go there?"
HER: "I really don't know."
ME: "Do you mind if I ask you a couple questions so we can see?"
HER: "Ummm, sure."
We continued to go through the good person test and she replied by saying that everyone has lied, stolen, and etc. She also told me that she understood what I'm saying, but she just doesn't know about all of it and that she was thinking about inventing her own philosophy. The conversation got more interesting.
ME: "How old do you think you will live?"
HER: "It's really weird that you asked me that question because my friend sent me a message the other day asking why I wanted to commit suicide."
ME: "I see, and I would hate for you to feel that way, but what if you are wrong about your beliefs of what happens after death and the Bible is right in saying that we go to hell without Christ." (This was after I shared the Gospel with her.)
HER: "I don't know. I'll think about it. I'll probably regret later not talking about this more with you, but I just have a bunch of things on my mind right now."
ME: "I understand, but there is really nothing more important than your eternal salvation."
HER: "It's weird too that you are talking to me, because I think my friends just ditched me and then you walked up and I was kind of scared at first, but now I'm glad we talked."
ME: "I'm glad and maybe it's not weird because this could be happening for a reason. I really want you to think about that and our conversation because I really do care.
HER: "Alright."
ME: "Do you have any questions at all? Understand that the Gospel is about repentance and trust in Christ alone. There is no other way. If you have a Bible check out John, the fourth book of the New Testament."
HER: "Okay."
ME: "Well, have a great night and thank you so much for talking to me about this."
I pray and hope that her heart would be unhardened and she would fall on the cross of Christ. I really think that the Gospel is exactly what she needed to hear that night and that we crossed paths for that reason. Please pray for her.
This next situation is definitely one of the most animated encounters I have ever had. It was a group of three guys and I was leaving to go home and I actually walked by them. I had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to talk to them, but I shrugged it off. I wound up turning around and going back and then convinced myself that I didn't need to. (What a selfish sinner I am! I thank the Lord for His forgiveness and the conviction that He gave me!)I turned back a third time and finally approached them. One was nineteen and the other two guys were in their twenties.
I started out asking them what they thought about what happens after death and if they ever think about it. One guy kept making funny gestures while I was talking to the other guys, one guy got really serious and said he thinks there is a heaven and maybe a hell, and the last guy said that said that he is a polytheist. Right there I had a suspicion that this conversation was about to get incredibly interesting and emotion.
The dialogue was mainly between Kyle (the polytheist, which means he believes in many gods, which he didn't) and the other guy, I feel horrible that I forgot his name, but I talked to a lot of people that night. Kyle will stick in my head for quite a while because of what happened.
I began the conversation with the law and then Kyle began to say that he believed in the theory of evolution and that there is no proof of God. So immediately this opened up a different situation. I am so thankful to one of my brothers in Christ because he had given me a book he had written the week before on presuppositional apologetics, which is basically defending Christianity not based on evidence (because it is already there), rather it is addressing the individuals presuppositions of the things of God and their world view.
These are some of the basic points of the dialogue:
KYLE: "There is no proof of God's existence and you cannot prove it."
ME: "Actually, I can, but it doesn't matter because you will not believe it. On the other hand, you have no proof that there isn't a God."
KYLE: "I believe in evolution and we all come from apes and molecules. There is a ton of evidence."
ME: "Actually Kyle, there is none. There are no transitional forms, but again you will not agree with me so I'll ask you this. Do you believe that you have a conscience or there is such a thing as right and wrong?"
KYLE: "No I don't think there is such a thing as right and wrong, it is all subjective. I don't believe in any religion either."
ME: "Kyle, actually you do. You believe in yourself and you believe in evolution, which is how you justify the way you live. You seem to have faith in those things."
(This seems pretty confrontational, and it was, but the matter of truth was at hand and if we really care about the lost we will address these things with anyone denies and mocks the truth. He begins reacting very frustrated and angry because he is suppressing the truth that their is indeed a God that he does not want to answer to.) Check out Romans 1:18
ME: "Kyle, do you think rape is wrong?"
KYLE: "Well, hmmm, in a sense I do, but it is subjective as well."
ME: "If someone was being raped right here in front of you, you would do nothing to stop it?"
KYLE: "No, because it has nothing to do with me."
Then his friend who I was with as well said he thinks he was a Christian because he has Jesus in his heart and he tries to do good even though he still cusses and doesn't read his Bible. He would actually chime in time to time when I was talking with Kyle. The friend then says...
FRIEND: "Yeah man, but what if it was your girlfriend being raped right here in front of you. Wouldn't you do something about it??"
KYLE: He thought about this for a while...."It depends on the situation."
ME: "Do you love your girl friend??"
KYLE: "Love isn't real either."
ME: "Sure it is. I love my wife and kids. It's more than an emotion. It is something that you do."
KYLE: "Nope".
ME: "Kyle what do you love more than anything in the world?"
KYLE: "That would be my car."
ME: "Alright, so therefore you do love something, but do you think it would be wrong if someone stole your car?"
KYLE: "Yes, in a sense and I would beat up (used more explicit language) anyone who did it."
ME: "You keep saying "in a sense" in order to not have to admit that there is indeed right and wrong. You love your car and you expressed that it would be wrong. That is your conscience. You do have one no matter how hard you try to harden it."
KYLE: "Well, we get our standard of right and wrong from our ancestors and it is handed down from time. That is how we have morality."
So he has gone from no sense of morality to a generational inherited morality.
ME: "So in what time period would child pornography, rape, and stealing be okay?"
He had to stop and think and obvious did not address the first two.
KYLE: "People steal because they need something. I don't think that is wrong." (He contradicted his statement about the car)
ME: "Not true, I used to steal and I didn't need what I was taking. The fact is your worldview cannot account for any absolute standard of morality of truth and that there is no absolutely no meaning to life. You say that anything goes because morality is completely subjective to that person. If you say that the society determines morality that still does not make it absolute because in your worldview you are saying that if someone else is doing it outside that society then the act would then be permissible. To you we are just a bunch of molecules."
His friend then asked a very good question.
FRIEND: "I see what your saying, but I see what Kyle is saying too. What I have a hard time with is what happens to those people that do not get to hear about this stuff or have a chance to be saved."
ME: "Kyle said earlier that if the Bible is right then we all deserve hell. I agree with him there because we have all sinned against God. We have all broken His law. I see what you are saying though. Think of it this way. If someone came to our country and killed someone, but was ignorant of our laws, would that make him innocent or guilty of the crime?"
FRIEND: "Guilty."
ME: "Exactly. It doesn't matter because the law is the law and God is the lawgiver. We can't say what is fair and isn't fair because we are not the judge and we didn't create the law. God is so loving that he must hate that which is evil because He is just. That is why the Gospel is full of grace and we are to go and preach the gospel! We don't deserve the grace of Christ, but that is the good news and why I am talking to you tonight."
FRIEND: "I get that, but I am a Christian, well...I think I'm a Christian. I really need to be doing what you are doing."
ME: "Doing what I am doing is commanded in the Bible, but it won't save you. Going to church and being dunked under water will not save you either. The Gospel is about repentance (turning from your sin) and putting your full trust in Christ. Our works are like filthy rags to God. We cannot throw our works at Him as if to bribe Him into heaven."
I went on to explain to both of them the difference between head knowledge belief and true trust in Christ. Then the other friend who was doing random stuff walked back up and picked up one of the metal guard poles that were in the ground and was holding it on his shoulder.
OTHER FRIEND: "Hey Kyle, why don't you stick you head in this hole and we can see what really happens after you die."
KYLE: "I'm not going to do that!"
ME: "Wait, now why wouldn't you do that?"
KYLE: "Because I don't want to."
ME: "I think it's because you love your life Kyle and it means something to you."
He got really mad at this and started yelling.
KYLE: "I don't (explicit language) care if I die. I don't care when I do or how I do or even if I do." - - I found this pretty contradictory to his previous statements.
OTHER FRIEND: "Then stick your head in the hole."
KYLE: "No man, whatever."
ME: "Kyle, I see your getting upset, but I really am telling you all this because I really do care and I really believe that you know there is a God, but you don't want to admit it because it would hold you accountable. You have tried to reason Him out by saying that everything is subjective and in a sense in attempt to get out of any moral responsibility. I believe in absolute morality, absolute truth, and an absolute sovereign Creator who made you. The worldview you have conjured up contradicts common logic. I really want you to think about what we have talked about tonight."
KYLE: "I think anyone can believe what they want. I don't have a problem with that. Like 1 percent of my brain says there could be a God, but the other 10 percent says no based on everything I have read and understood."
ME: "That one percent is there for a reason. Again, I have really enjoyed this conversation with you guys and I hope that you will think about this, because there is nothing more important than what happens after you die."
The random friend then stops and says, "Jesus said I am THE way, THE way, not A way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me."
I can honestly say I wasn't expecting that from his mouth in a million years.
ME: "I wholeheartedly agree with you. You are absolutely right. There is no other way. Repent and trust in Him. Thank you guys again so much for the conversation. Check out John in your Bible if you want to know more about this."
We shook hands and parted ways. Like I said, the conversation did get heated, and it was more extensive as it lasted at least 30 minutes. I left out some of the mocking statements by Kyle because there were a lot of foolish things said. I unfortunately could not remember the order and every word. When someone is being confronted with truth or their worldview contradicts itself there is going to be some frustration. I ask you wholeheartedly to please pray for everyone who heard the Gospel that night.
Kyles friend who claimed that he was definitely a Christian said that he wasn't sure at the end of the conversation. He heard the Gospel and understood that his own goodness could not save him. I was absolutely encouraged because the law did a work on their hearts. Salvation is of the Lord and He is mighty to save.
Please pray and thank you for reading my friends!
In Christ,
Joey Acker
