Lemons: Part II

Surrounded by unbelievers on the near west side of Cleveland, God has been gracious to provide several opportunities for me represent Jesus this week alone. However, some of those situations are not fun. Some individuals embrace the gospel while others are unsettled by its conviction. When buying a car, investing time and money in a “lemon” speaks to a hidden and crippling factor the immediately devalues an already purchased automobile. In evangelism, by contrast, there are no lemons. As we have learned in previous lectures, the believer is responsible for content, not conversion! This statement is easily said, but it is crucially realized in the day-to-day activity of personal evangelism.

After *Man Time on Thursday, two of the teens that Jesus and I are discipling went with us to a local restaurant. We opened to 1 John 2:18 where we had left off the week before, the passage about antichrists (which would later become ironic). After studying together for a bit, the guys asked about John as the author. The man in the next booth over had already made a few snarky comments under his breath by this time, but at this point, he could not stand for me to tell unsuspecting teens that a book in the Bible had one, first century author named John. Mr. Atheist interjected, "Yeah, John authored it... And about seven other people who changed what he wrote over a few thousand years!" Now I'm sure that this guy thought that he would try and disgrace two 20-something guys in front of their teen disciples, smile, and move on. However, he got more than he bargained for. I genuinely did not want to talk to him, but it was for the sake of the young believers across from me that I could not take this attack on the Word lying down. The conversation got serious in no time, but the boys got a 30-minute lesson on Jesus, truth, and the veracity of the Bible and the resurrection.

Mr. Atheist did not want to back down for PR reasons, but that was okay because others in the restaurant were also tuning in. "That was the heck of a conversation," the waiter would add later. Mr. Atheist could deny the historical Jesus, but it was the resurrection that caught him up. “That makes all of the difference!” is what I told my disciples (pointing to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 and Romans 10:9) while Jesse took lead on the debate. The boys were appalled by Mr. Atheist and reinforced the resurrection with thumbs up. By the end of the talk, Mr. Atheist admitted that he could never believe in an absolute truth like Jesus. I assured him that his problem was not intellectual but spiritual since he had no problem believing the truth the no truths exist. "I don't believe anything... And I don't have a problem" is where he wanted to leave things.

That conversation did not go as I had hoped or expected. However, God had something more in store. I truly believe that, even though Mr. Atheist seemed to be a “lemon” for truth, this scene was effective in the of hearts of onlookers: my disciples, others in the restaurant, the waiter, and even myself. The gospel stands on its own two feet, and we do not believe, practice, or preach it in vain.

*Man Time = Teen and adult guys talking about and living out what it means to be a man... And thereofre, on the next, talking about and living out what it means to follow Jesus.