Testimonies

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A number of years ago something occurred that will forever leave a sober realization. I had just moved from Hawaii to the city of Billings, Montana, and since I needed a job I naturally applied at a place I had worked for a short time before in Hawaii, Costco Wholesale. Instantly I hit it off with almost everyone I worked with, but one person in particular seemed to take a liking to me, Eric P_. Although Eric and I were quite different in most ways, we seemed to get along well and seeing that Costco management put us together as a team quite often. Having few friends in town, I enjoyed working with him and experiencing his fun loving nature. It didn’t take long to realize that although we hit it off, Eric was nowhere near being a Christian. I learned that he was divorced with a couple of children and that he really loved the ladies. After a while it became a regular ritual to listen to his stories of conquests and escapades. As a believer, the graphic nature of these stories was uncomfortable to listen to. I wanted to be a good witness without coming off as self-righteous, plastic, or preachy, but wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. Several times, to keep the report going, I told him about attractive girls who had expressed interest in me, but always with a tinge of guilt over playing into the whole thing. I never was an outright poor witness, but my silence definitely left something to be desired. I did mention how I was a very devout Christian and didn’t tangle myself up in the things that Eric was all about, but I generally kept it light.

One Sunday, while working, Eric approached me and asked what I was doing after work. I told him I had no plans and upon hearing this he said nothing and walked off. Instantly I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, “Ask him what he is doing and do it with him.” I found it strange that the Holy Spirit spoke so plainly to me about such a light thing, but took what He said seriously.

After work, we decided to hit Subway real quick and then head over to the mall for a movie. Looking back, it’s obvious to me that the Holy Spirit had set me up with an opportunity and was telegraphing the message, but that I was too dull to catch on to what was going on. The first missed queue occurred when we walked up to order our sandwiches. Eric knew the girl behind the counter and as I learned during their conversation, they had both worked at a convenience store close by. The girl had quit, due to the frequency of the place being held up, but Eric still worked there as a second job. When asked why he would still work in a place that the girl considered dangerous, Eric replied that all one had to do was give the thieves what they wanted and they would leave without harming anyone. To me, coming from a much more populated state, the idea that any place in little Billings, Montana might be dangerous was laughable and I chalked the whole thing up to a girl’s unfounded fears just as Eric had.

After a quick bite we each headed over to the mall for a movie, but not being from the city I parked on the side that was later locked after the mall closed. Little did I realize the significance of the long conversation that ensued from the short drive to my car. A two minute ride turned into a several hour conversation as I talked to Eric about my faith and what I live for. I told him story after story of how I knew God was real and how real His voice was. I told him how there is nothing that compares with hearing from and knowing God. I made it very clear that none of it was a figment of my imagination, illustrating my point with tangible and real testimonies. He sat quietly listening, but with real interest and an occasional questions. As we parted ways he gave me his phone number and told me to call him to hang out again sometime.

The following Sunday, like most Sundays at the time, I had cart duty. Usually Costco stuck Eric out to work with me, but on this particular occasion he wasn’t working. As I worked, I got to thinking about how much more fun it was to work with him as he always seemed to make the most mundane thing a lot of fun with all of his antics. Just about then a question clearly popped up in my mind, “If Eric dies is your conscience clear that you’ve said all you need to say?” In spite of the conversation we had the week before, I knew that I had only wetted Eric’s appetite for something spiritual, but I had by no means “closed the deal” by leading him to Christ. In fact, I knew that although I was not ashamed to share my faith with him or anyone else, closing the deal by being clear and pointed about his need for Christ caused me some discomfort and shame. Also, there was the nagging guilt over the questionable talk about women. After thinking about this a bit, I put it out of my mind and kept pushing carts. A little while later, however, the Holy Spirit specifically asked me the same question again! The whole thing just kept gnawing at me! I finally decided that although it would be uncomfortable, the next time I got a chance to talk to him in private at work, I would talk to Eric about his salvation. Oddly enough, that whole next week Eric and I didn’t work together once. I could have called him, but that seemed too up front. I wanted to seem nonchalant about the whole thing as much as I could. I really didn’t believe he was actually going to die!

A week later, two weeks after we went to Subway and a movie, Eric was shot and killed at his second job. All of Costco was shocked and heart-broken over the news, but probably nobody like me! I wept and wept thinking about the opportunity I had missed! News traveled among all my fellow believers of what had happened. Several expressed shock that Eric even listened to me. Every other Christian who had attempted to witness to him had received his merciless mocking and ridiculed. Many had made him the subject of special prayer for years. Who knows what happened in the five minutes he lay bleeding to death on the floor. Maybe I said enough for him to breath a prayer to God, maybe I didn’t. But that day Eric died my conscience was not clear - I hadn’t said everything I should have said.

To Christians

How ready are you to share your faith with those around you? Do you have a testimony of God’s faithfulness and reality in your life that others will find believable? Do you have a passion that is evidence of a hidden reality when you speak about your relationship with Christ? Do you have something for others to “taste and see that the Lord is good?” I had that part down, but lacked the second part – a boldness to close the deal. Every day, all around the world, millions die. Who knows when that person next to you will meet his Maker. Who knows if he or she is disillusioned with life or broken inside. Who knows the desperation, the questions, or the hopelessness they are living with. Either you have the reality of the living Christ in your heart and life and the boldness to share it or you don’t. How ready are you?

To Unbelievers

How ready are you to meet your Maker? If you died today, where would you go? Are you really confident that there is nothing after this life but a pine box six feet under? Are you willing to bet your life on the popular, intellectual arguments of our day casting doubt on the Christian faith or the lame excuses you make to help yourself sleep at night? If that’s our fate, why did a voice inside me pose that question? If there is no God, explain this story. I know otherwise. My faith doesn’t rest solely on the testimony of a handful of men who lived a few thousand years ago. God is real. He really did send His Son to die for the world’s sins. Christ really did rise from the dead. He really is the only hope for a humanity sentenced to a just punishment of death. Heaven and hell are real, and only Christ has the power to save you from a hopeless life and a fearful death. How ready are you?

P.S. Late last night I felt a strong compulsion to write this blog. Just moments ago I awoke to the terrible news of the devastating tsunami to hit Japan last night. Having lived in Hawaii for years, I know the fear of this very type of calamity in coastal islands. Several times we were warned of possible tsunamis due to underwater, seismic activity. So, for me, the devastation hits close to home. Events like this definitely leave an exclamation point after the title question. The fact I felt an urgency at 2:00 A.M., without knowing these events, to get up and write this blog is a testimony to the love of God. The world, and everyone in it, will stand at His judgment seat one day. He wants everyone to be ready for that day. Again, how ready are you?

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!" 2 Peter 3:9-12

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