Omaha and The Reality of God

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

A simple sentence. A sentence explaining how the world, the universe, every constellation and distant moon came into existence. A sentence declaring the greatness of God. A sentence that reveals humanity to it's very core. In every human being, there is a desire to know God. Romans 1 declares that God has revealed Himself to us through creation, and therefore we have no excuse for rejecting Him. Romans 2: the conscience. And finally, Romans 3: Christ Himself, God in human form, laying down His life for the scum of the earth, the dirt-bags, the liars, the cheats, and fornicators. For humanity. Individuals. Hearts that did not yet exist, but God had a dream about each and every one. A dream of connecting with each heart that he would create in perfect unity, of a love so pure it shone brighter than the sun. A dream of creating males and females and giving them a beautiful world to live in, unlike any other, a world of perfection where they would walk hand in hand with their Maker. And so, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The looks of hatred and derision would do more than kill if they could. They would shred into finest minced pieces the pages of the Bible and the message it carries. The looks of sickened disgust would bury the Creation Story six feet under and leave an unmarked grave to be trodden upon by a socialist society. And finally, the raging anger buried deep inside would mince the person of Jesus Christ into absolute chard until He was nothing more than ash to be scattered by the wind.  But oh, wait. They already have. I speak not of government officials nor any powers of command who make eloquent speeches for the masses. I speak of the common individual that you or I pass on the street every day.

In today's world, the average Joe has no clue who the person of Jesus Christ is. Sure, they have heard of Him in Sunday school and can recount the stories of Jonah and the Whale, Noah and the Ark. But most have not had an intimate, deep encounter with the savior of the universe for which Christ died in the first place. I have been traveling with Tom and Team for four weeks now. We have gone to five different campuses: IA state, Colorado State, University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Omaha. In all of my discussions with students on campus in this past month, I have come to understand some things about the basics viewpoints of someone who has not accepted Jesus as their savior: first off, they hold strongly to the theory of evolution. This is because most have been taught this way of belief since kindergarten, and simply dropping the entire theory behind their reason for existence in one day isn't going to happen. Secondly, most people enjoy sinning. In their pride, they lay claim to the fame of being a good person. This is their hope of getting into heaven, for those who believe in an afterlife. Another big reason for why people have not accepted Jesus is because they have adopted for themselves a 'cafeteria' religion, a term borrowed from Tom Short: "A little bit of that…some of that…ugh! Not that!...um, a whole lot of that!...and a little bit of that!" Cafeteria religion leaves no room for Jesus being needed to remove sins. This is because when you get enough of it, you've built yourself a pillar into the sky. That is, hopefully a pillar reaching all the way to heaven based on how well your mind constructs it based off of your own desires and how you rate certain sins.

Unfortunately, most young people are floating around campuses (ok, not literally...but I like the imagery) all over America who don't have a clue what they believe in. Laying claim to Atheism, Agnosticism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Non-denominationalism, and Roman Catholicism, these individuals have created pathways to heaven that only exist in their own creative minds. Unfortunately, most have never read the Bible. Many claim to have had it forced upon them growing up. Even more unfortunate is the large number of people who had the bible forced upon them in the same meaning that they were forced to eat their vegetables or brush their teeth. Interestingly enough, I've never met an adult who claims they've decided never to brush their teeth again as an adult because they were forced to brush them as a child.

On Thursday, on campus in Omaha, an incredibly angry student lashed out at Tom. "The bible commands us to be respectful of all religions!" He shrieked, practically spitting in the faces of all standing around him. Jumping into the small open space that still existed between Tom and at least 40 people listening in, Jose began spewing profanity as he claimed to be a Roman Catholic Christian who knew what he was talking about. Tom gave no response, waiting for him to calm down. Jose continued listing reasons "from the Bible," he claimed, for why everyone on earth should be respectful of everyone else's religious beliefs. Tom only interjected once to object calmly, "No, it doesn't say that." "YES, IT DOES!!!" Jose was seething by this point. I was waiting for foam to start dripping, but all of a sudden I think he must have started loosing his voice because he began coughing and backed into the crowd again. Happening to be standing right next to him, I tapped his shoulder and quietly asked the same question Tom had asked him a few seconds earlier: "Where is the reference for the verse you're talking about?"

 "I'm not sure, but I know it's in there!"

"Really? Because I've never read it in my bible," as I explained what version I read and how it was similar to the Catholic bible.

"Well, I know I've read it in there. I know it's in there. I think it's one of the Ten Commandments!"

"Oh really? Which one?" I asked, doing everything to hold a smile back. "Are you sure you're not thinking of 'You shall have no other gods before Me,' or maybe 'Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain?'

"uh, I don't know!..." Jose paused as a confused look came over his face.

"You should look up the ten commandments, because 'respecting all religions' has never been one of them," I told him in a serious tone. A few minutes later, he left the circle.

Not five minutes later, a fiery, dynamic young lady, Ashley, was passing by and pushed herself into the center of the circle surrounding Tom. Without taking time to figure out what he was talking about, she immediately began accusing him of being narrow minded and refusing to accept every single life style as acceptable before God. As she grew more and more adamant in what she was saying, Tom as well as a few others in the crowd calmly encouraged her to calm down. This only enraged her more as she raised her voice and declared, "I am NOT BEING EMOTIONAL!!! I've been like this since I was five years old, and it's the way God made me!!!" this lasted for at least an hour. No matter whether Ashley received answers to her questions or not, she continued to barrage Tom.

By the end, the crowd was in an uproar. Some were discussing things as groups of two or three individuals, but Ashley was still screaming; the atheist club members, complete with their signs of Bible verses taken out of context and brochures declaring they did not need fixing by God because they were not broken, continued interjecting themselves into every sentence Tom tried to speak. Tom invited those in the crowd who loved Jesus to come over closer to the banners, where we all held hands and formed a large circle of about twenty people. The rest of the crowd stood on the outside, a few standing just outside our circle and quietly listening with looks on their faces that mixed between 'awe' and 'confusion.' Members of the atheist group began reciting another Bible verse taken out of the context, chanting loudly and waving more signs in the air. Tom declared, "We're going to sing, and then pray. Now when we start, you need to realize that they are going to be doing everything they can to drown us out and silence us. They might be yelling right in our ears. Don't let that stop you! We're on the Lord's team!" With other encouraging Battle-speech worthy words, Tom led us in 'Amazing Grace' and 'Praise God,' and then closed in prayer. 

Experiencing this for myself made it more evident how grossly perverted humanity is to the idea of repenting before an All-mighty God and asking salvation. Admitting you cannot accomplish something on your own is not what students go to college to practice doing. Those are typically called "drop-outs." I am praying for continued love and further understanding of people's hearts so that I can become more effective at sharing the gospel. Ultimately, I can read and become learned on many different topics which will help to advance the gospel, but it is still only God who moves the heart. He is ultimately in charge of nudging that empty hole in every human's heart that desires its Creator. Ultimately, God is in charge whether people like it or not. And that is because, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.