Short Stories

The Reluctant Evangelist

by Stephen Wong
03/09/18
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Step out in faith and take every opportunity to tell people about Jesus. It’s the most loving thing we can do. Sow the seed and trust God with the results.

The message from Pastor John’s sermon yesterday goes through my mind as I get ready to leave for school. Telling people about Jesus. Unfortunately it’s a message that’s all too familiar to me. If Pastor John isn’t talking about it in a sermon, then I’ll hear it at youth group, or from my mum, who tells me how my friends need to be saved from their rebellious teenage years, or else I’ll hear it from all the lovely old couples at church who keep saying that us young people need to be more bold in sharing the good news.  

It’s also the Great Commission that Jesus gave right? Make disciples of all nations. At least that’s what my youth group leader Sam taught me. It sounds wonderful and all, but the problem is that Jesus never had to experience being a ninth grader at Riverbank High School. I mean, I know Jesus had his fair share of haters back in the day, but I’m sure he never had to meet the kind of kids I go to class with everyday. The kind of kids who will pick on you and intimidate you if you are short or have a funny name, and the kind of kids who will certainly make your life a living hell if you’re a Christian. You see, words like “Bible” and “God” are kind of taboo words around here, and as soon as anyone suspects you’re a Christian, you can kiss goodbye to any hope of having friends, and as much as I hate to say it, I do have my reputation to think about. I mean, look at what happened to poor innocent Mindy from tenth grade. Mindy would never even hurt a fly, yet she came up with the bright idea of inviting everyone in her year level to Bible study, and now the poor girl can’t walk anywhere around the school without being called names like “Jesus freak” or “Bible girl” or “Goodie-goodie”. I mean, I have to give credit to her for courage, but all that effort and not even a single soul converted. It just seems like nobody here really cares about Jesus, and they’re eager to make fun of anyone who would dare mention him. Sometimes I see Mindy just sitting by herself in a corner at lunch time, it’s just so sad! Surely God wouldn’t want something like that to happen to me?

Even some of the teachers seem to have problems with Christian beliefs. Mrs Sawyer tells us we should never say that another religion is wrong. Apparently it is arrogant for someone to claim that their religion is the absolute truth, and what’s true for one person might not be true for someone else. Even the principal Mr Michaels tells us that it is wrong for somebody to say that homosexual marriages are a sin. Maybe people back in Jesus’ time were much more open to religious stuff, but this definitely isn’t a school that is open to hearing me say that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

I mean, when Jesus said to make disciples of all nations, I’m sure he wasn’t imagining a short, scrawny little kid with freckles like me going out to preach the good news. I really don’t think I’ll be starting any school revivals anytime soon. I might have a chance if I could do cool things like cast out demons or make a storm go away, but I just have plain me. I would make Christianity look like a complete joke if I tried to tell people about Jesus! I mean look at people like Pastor John or Sam. They are the meaning of confidence. They know how to talk to people and put on a friendly smile that can make anybody feel welcome. They are fearless, I reckon not even Goliath could scare them away from telling people about Jesus. They are the ones who should be sharing the good news, not me.   

I’ve never been good at words. For some reason I’ve always been allergic to explaining things well. You know it’s true when even your mum tells you so. I think it’s all the pressure as well. Even just the thought of telling people about Jesus makes my mind jumble up, let alone actually doing it. Not to mention my face will probably turn red as well, which might be enough to scare them off. Even if I was lucky enough to utter some words and successfully start a gospel conversation, I can just imagine the flood of questions that would get thrown at me. Why does God let bad things happen? What does God have against gay people? How do you know the Bible is real? What about evolution? Is it true you guys can’t have sex before marriage? What about the spaghetti monster?…  The questions would never end! I might even make people hate Christians even more if I tried to answer them.

Besides, it’s not like I haven’t tried before. What about that one time last year with my good friend Dave? It ended up being a complete failure! Dave and I were riding our bikes in the park. Nobody was around, and I was feeling sort of brave for some reason, so I decided to pop a casual question. It came out as something like, “So, ah… what do you think about that guy called Jesus…?” I’m still trying to forget what happened next. Ended up being the most awkward bike ride I’ve ever been on. Not sure Dave ever looked at me the same again after that.

So I think I’ve proved my case that Riverbank High School just isn’t the type of place for me to be telling people about Jesus. I’ll leave that to someone a little bit braver. I’m still praying for my classmates to come to know Jesus though, so it’s not like I’m not doing anything about it. That’s what mum keeps saying. To keep praying that God would be softening hearts. To pray for opportunities to tell others about Jesus. She tells me that one day he’s going to answer my prayers when I least expect it. Well I’m praying alright, but I’m not sure there’s going to be an opportunity anytime soon…

It’s Maths class now, the last class of the day. This should be a pretty easy way to finish school. Usually Mr Harrison is pretty chill, he lets us chat as much as we want to, as long as we’re doing exercises at the same time. There were no amazing life changing gospel conversations again today, but hey, I’m still praying, right. Besides, I bet even people like Paul must have met people he thought weren’t worth the trouble of preaching to. It just seems useless talking about Jesus around here. I mean it’s not like people are coming up to me and asking me questions about the meaning of life or how to be forgiven for their sins. If that were the case then sure, I would be happy to sow all the seeds in the world. Oh well, I guess I can just concentrate on this algebra question now. Question two. 3x- 4 = ….

“What’s that Pete?”

I turn to my right. My classmate James is pointing under my desk at my school bag. The zip is open and the top of a black book is sticking out with the words “HOLY BIBLE” printed across the front in bright white letters. It must have popped out when I pulled out my textbook. 

Without even thinking, I casually reply, “Oh that’s just my Bible.”

James raises an eyebrow and gives me a suspicious look. “That’s your Bible? Why do you have a Bible?”

Oh no! Too late to take back my words. What do I say now? Some of my other classmates are now looking at me. Why does James have to talk so loudly! I can feel my cheeks beginning to turn pink. I don’t even know why I carry that Bible around every day. It’s not like I’m ever going to go around and read the Bible with people anyway. It was all mum’s idea, telling me that it could be a great conversation starter with friends or something. Thanks for that mum! Now what do I say? Perhaps I could use some clever excuse. I know. Maybe I could say that I’m using it for the history project on ancient civilizations. Yet… I can’t stop thinking about Pastor John’s words from yesterday.

Step out in faith and take every opportunity to tell people about Jesus. It’s the most loving thing we can do. Sow the seed and trust God with the results.

I know this is one of those opportunities I’m meant to take, but why does it have to be so hard?! Will I even make a difference? Pastor John has usually been right on these kinds of things though. Is it really the most loving thing to do? Well, I guess I have been praying that God would give me opportunities to tell others about Jesus. Looks like he answered my prayers. Mum did say it would happen when I least expected it. I just need to step out in faith. Well, even if it doesn’t change anything, I still have to try. Well, it’s now or never. Come on. Step out in faith, step out in faith. Be brave Pete, be brave! Sow the seed and trust God with the results, right? 

“Well um… I’m ah… I’m … I’m actually a Christian. And… well… I read the Bible everyday.”

“What??” gasps James. I can tell he’s not impressed. “Pete! You mean to tell me you’re one of those people that believe in Jesus and stuff?”

“Yeah… well, I mean… the Bible… isn’t… so bad you know, when you read it… and stuff….”

“Not bad?! Doesn’t it say you can’t smoke or have sex before marriage or do other cool stuff?”

Oh no, all the questions are about to come! I can feel my cheeks getting redder and redder!

“Besides, how do you even know if that stuff is true or not? Wasn’t the stuff about Jesus all made up by some crazy people?”

“Well um…” I try to avoid eye contact with James. I can feel the sweat gathering on my forehead. I wish he would just lower the volume down just a tad bit.

“And what about that rubbish about the world being made in six days? Or that stuff about God hating gay people? Or about Christians not being able to get drunk?”

My face looks like a bright red tomato now. I wish someone would just throw a bucket full of iced water over my head. Defeated, I stare down at my work and pretend not to be bothered by the questions. So much for praying for opportunities! Hope mum is happy now. James soon loses interest in me and starts chatting to some other friends. Only problem is the whole class seems to have heard the conversation. I hear voices all around me. 

“So he’s also one of those Jesus freaks.”

“I bet he’s not even allowed to go watch an M rated movie.”

“I heard they’re not allowed to smoke.”

“I heard the Bible says they can’t even eat pork.”

“Do you think he prays every day?”

“I heard they drink wine at church on Sundays. So much for not being allowed to get drunk!”

I hear a bunch of laughter around me. Great, I’ve become the laughing stock of the school now! I try to shut out the noise and pretend to be focusing really hard on a Math problem.

Suddenly the deep stern voice of Mr Harrison comes over the top of everyone. “Come on class, lets stop making fun of Pete!” It seems like even he heard my conversation with James. “We never make fun of other people’s beliefs. We need to respect all religions.” Well, at least that seems to end all the conversation about me for now, but I have a dreadful feeling about coming to school tomorrow!

The school bell goes off. Finally, the end of the day! I quickly pack up my things and head out of the classroom before anybody has the chance to embarrass me more. I rush off to catch the first bus going home. Usually the ninth graders stick around for a bit and catch the later bus, so there’s less chance for me to be recognized and laughed at if I take the earlier one. As soon as I jump on I grab one of the empty back seats. I nervously wait as the other kids get on. So far all of them look like seventh graders, there’s nobody I can recognize so far. That’s good news for me, until… uh oh! A tall boy walks on, whom I instantly recognize as Ray from Maths class. Ray is one of the toughest kids you’ll ever meet. It’s best not to get on his bad side. If Ray doesn’t agree with you on something, he’ll let you know about it, except not in a nice polite way like most people would do. Instead Ray usually lets his fists do the talking. One time I saw Ray get into a huge fight with this other kid who dared to claim that rock music is not the best music in the world. I don’t know how Ray feels about religion, but I hope that he’s nice to Christians at least.

I quickly stare out the window, hoping Ray will take one of the seats up the front without noticing me. Suddenly I hear a heavy thud on the seat next to me. I’m almost too scared to look…

“What’s up Pete?” I turn to my left and see Ray with a grin on his face.

“Oh… hello,” I manage to mutter.

“That’s was a nice Bible you were reading there in Maths.”

“Oh yeah haha… I remember that now.” I can feel my cheeks beginning to turn red again. Too bad the windows on this bus don’t open.

“So, uh, do you really think it’s true?”

“What’s true?” I ask cautiously. Maybe Ray is trying to play another joke on me.

“The stuff the Bible says about Jesus? I mean, do you really think he was a real person and all that?”

 “Well, uh… yeah… I think so. Apparently there’s also some historical evidence and stuff that backs up Jesus being real... so, uh… yeah.” I prepare myself for the worst…

“Well if what my grandma tells me about Jesus is true, he sounds like he must have been a pretty amazing guy, even if I can’t agree with everything he said. Who else would ever think of dying for their enemies?”

“Wait.. your grandma talks to you about Jesus?” I ask. I really didn’t see that coming.

“Yeah, did you think you were the first Jesus lover I’ve ever met?”

“I guess not”, I chuckle. Suddenly I don’t feel quite so nervous.

“Anyway, not sure I could ever read the Bible for myself though. It just seems so boring! No offence.”

“Well, uh… I used to think that too. But, you know.. once you start, you realize… it’s not so bad. Besides… it’s the best way to find out what Jesus was really like.”

“Maybe you’re right haha. Wouldn’t mind looking more into this Jesus guy. I at least want to know why my grandma’s so obsessed with him. Would be a lot easier though if someone could explain the Bible to me though. Probably wouldn’t make much sense if I read it on my own.”

Suddenly a curious idea pops up in my head. “Hey uh… do you have any plans this Friday night?”

“Hhmm don’t think so. Why do you ask?”

“Well um… the young people at my church normally meet for youth group on Friday nights… and uh, well… we’re going through this series at the moment … looking through some of Jesus’ miracles from the Bible and stuff… and uh… well… I was wondering… if you wanted… would you… you know… be interested in coming? But no worries if you don’t want to, I understand if you…”

“Um, ok. Why not?”

“Really? I mean… cool, great!” I almost can’t believe what I just heard!

“Well, looks like this is my stop Pete. Guess I’ll catch ya tomorrow?”

“Yeah, see ya later.”

I watch as Ray walks off the bus. I don’t have words to describe what just happened! Out of all the kids at school, I never thought I would have a conversation with him about Jesus. God can really work through any opportunity! Maybe this business of telling people about Jesus isn’t so bad. I guess Pastor John and mum weren’t so wrong after all.