Mocking Muslims
Ministry Update October 9, 2016
Brian, Aaron and I witnessed at Missouri State University last Wednesday and four Muslims stopped to mock me while I was bringing a message about the apostle Paul’s conversion. About the time they walked up another student yelled get a job to which I replied “I have a job, yet I take time out of my busy schedule to come here to share the Gospel with you.” I was about finished with the message at that point and the Muslims were still standing there. So I went over and talked to them.
The one that did all the talking also asked me if I had a job. (I’m not sure why the students were so worried this week about my employment). I told him that I work at a local bank. So I asked him if he had a job and he said no, but he used to have one. (Again I don’t know what this was all about). Then he got to the heart of the matter and he wanted to know what if people don’t want to hear what I had to say. I told him this is a free country; if they don’t like the message, they can keep walking. He actually laughed at that.
Mockingly I’m Not A Christian Anymore
But then he told me that he wasn’t a Christian anymore and he wanted to talk about that. It seemed strange and suspicious to me, but I asked him anyway if he grew up in a Christian home and he said that he did. I talked to him a little more, but then he started laughing and told me that he was just messing with me. He and all of his friends walked away laughing. That’s ok with me because while the mocking Muslims were busy mocking me (and really they were mocking Jesus), I handed a tract to each one of them. May the Muslims read the tracts and may God grant them repentance and faith in Jesus.
You’re Not Supposed To Pray in Public
Before this craziness, I had just read Acts 9:1-18 when Josiah walked up. He read me the Bible verses about how we are not supposed to pray in public for the praise of men. So I asked him if I was praying and he admitted that I wasn’t, but he thought it was similar. I totally disagree with him. Open-air preaching is Biblical and necessary. Preaching the Gospel so lost sinners who aren’t likely to enter a church (one third of college students profess no religious affiliation. MSU has 26,000 students, you can do the math, but it’s a lot of lost souls).
Basically, Josiah questioned if what we were doing was the right method or not. I quoted him Scripture telling us to preach the Gospel and pointed out that we do other forms of outreach, this is one part of fulfilling The Great Commission. I assured Josiah that we are not going against Scripture. We aren’t praying in public to been seen by people and we sure aren’t seeking the empty praise of men. In fact, we generally get the direct opposite, like the mockers we encountered after Josiah left.
Reasoning With Atheists
Then Brian preached after me and was reasoning with Atheists like he often does. Sure enough, one gentleman stopped to engage in a conversation with him. In fact, they talked so long that Brian wasn’t really preaching anymore so Aaron started preaching. Aaron was preaching on how the Bible says it’s foolish for people to compare themselves to others. Jesus Christ is our only standard and none of us measure up to the perfect, sinless Son of God. That’s why we need a Savior.
Aaron kept preaching and the Atheist finally left. But after that a young man sat down and listened to Aaron preach. I was holding Aaron’s sign, so I asked Brian to go hand the young man a tract. Brian did so and when Aaron finished preaching, he and I had to go back to our jobs and Brian was still talking to the young man when we left. So praise God that Brian had two good conversations that day.
Surely You Jest
Then Friday night, Erica, Diana and Elise joined Aaron and I witnessing downtown. There was a concert on the square and some people playing a mini concert at South and Walnut where we go when the square is occupied, so we ended up one block South of the Square. It was a good spot and we had several mockers. The best heckler was a person dressed up like a court jester. I don’t know if they were a male or female, but they were in a full costume and they mocked Aaron for quite a bit of his sermon. It was great though because they were a perfect heckler. They danced behind Aaron, mocking his gestures, but never said a word. Many people stopped to see what was going on and several of them even recorded it.
Witnessing The Wrong Way
While this was going on a young lady, a professing Christian stopped to tell us that we were witnessing the wrong way (much like Josiah stated at MSU earlier in the week). I went over the same Bible verses about Jesus calling people to repent and how He talked about Hell more than anyone else in the Bible. She still thought we weren’t showing people the love of Jesus.
I pointed out to her that Jesus loved so much that He was willing to suffer and die on the cross for sins that He didn’t commit. Then I asked her if she likes John 3:16 and she said Oh yes, she really likes that verse. Then I asked her what John 3:36 says and she didn’t know. (It’s amazing to me how many professing Christians know John 3:16-17, but they don’t read past those two verses.
What Does John 3:36 Say?
I happened to be holding a sign that had John 3:36 written on it so I held it up and invited her to read it. She stopped at the first half of the verse where it says those who believe in Jesus have everlasting life. So I prompted her to read the bottom half that says he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him. I told her the reason we open-air preach is because we believe God’s word.
We believe that unrepentant sinners will go to Hell when they die. We believe it is our duty to warn sinners to flee from the wrath of God and we take this duty very seriously. She also wanted to know how many people have come to faith from street witnessing. I don’t know an exact number and I don’t keep track. I’ve never read any quotas in the Bible. If God calls us to witness and salvation is of the Lord, then isn’t sharing the Gospel our part and isn’t it’s up to God to save souls?
Mocking Drunk
About the time Aaron was finishing up a drunk came up and wanted to read my sign so I held it out where he could read it easier. I tried to hand him a tract, but he didn’t seem interested in it. But he surprised me when he grabbed my hand and took the tract from me. He stood there and read it and then decided he wanted to interrupt Aaron. He asked a question, but didn’t seem sincere. Then he said he wanted to be fixed. So he mockingly acted like he wanted to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He wasn’t sincere at all and his girlfriend kept cussing and trying to drag him away. They did leave and hopefully he will read the tract again later on when he’s sober and may God save his soul.
We had several other mockers cussing us out and scoffing about Jesus being the only Savior. But amidst all the craziness, one young man who appeared to be a genuine believer shook my hand and thanked us for being there downtown and sharing the Gospel. It’s always nice to receive encouragement from fellow believers.
(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share their faith in Jesus. If you are not doing so, please start obeying Jesus today. Tell someone your testimony. Tell them how Jesus saved you and how you are no longer the same person you were before. Get some Gospel tracts. Living Waters has some good ones and Fellowship Tract League offers tracts for free, so there’s no excuse. At least hand a tract to someone or at least leave it with the server when you leave them a tip at a restaurant. That’s how I started out witnessing nearly nine years ago. You can do it too.)