We set up the banners in an even more public area on our second day at Omaha; right outside the student Union, which had been reserved by another group the day before. We set up in an "L" shape, but the wind was even stronger than it had been yesterday. After the banners blew over, we realized we needed more than just a few boxes on the metal plates holding everything down. Duncan and David started pulling all the rope out of the toolbox, and in a few minutes the area behind the banners looked a little like Shelob's lair from Lord of the Rings. The banners stayed strong and upright for the remainder of the day, even with high winds and gusts up to 30mph.
If we had thought the audience from yesterday was intense, today was even more so. The atheist club set up their booth about ten yards away from Tom, inviting students in with candy and "ask an atheist" signs. A large crowd of over 50 people had soon gathered as questions were launched through the open air, flying like missiles towards Tom. Signs promoting homosexuality floated above a few student's heads who had agreed to hold them for the day. One atheist tried to out-preach Tom by getting above the crowd on the steps behind us and shouting about the flying spaghetti monsters. Even though he made two valiant efforts, nobody paid attention either time. One girl who claimed to be a christian spouted profanity as she shouted at him to answer her question-which he'd just answered only three times before.
The anger that so many individuals displayed today was incredible. If the Bible does not matter; If there is no God; If we came about by random chance; If Jesus was only a good man and nothing more; if we create our own morality-why does it cause such fits of rage as was seen on campus today? Why can people not just calmly walk away when they disagree with something that is being said? Ashley, the lady who claimed to be a christian, was growing incredibly angry as time wore on. The best part was when she insisted, with the emotion of anger masking her face and her words, "I am NOT getting emotional!!!" I ducked behind David, who was faithfully videotaping the action, to laugh out loud. That was just too funny to ignore.
Tom took every comment and sentence of hatred from people calmly. Anyone who began spouting off in anger was given silence until he or she was finished. Quietly asking, "Are you done?" Tom would then address the question or correct a lie that had been told about himself, God, or the Bible. Most people in the audience looked with disgust upon whoever was vehemently declaring something, and a student even tried to step in as mediator of the discussions in an effort to control debate.
By 4pm, the crowd had still not settled down. Groups of two's and three's debated amongst themselves, Ashley was still screaming, and the crowd in general was in an uproar. Knowing it was mostly futile to continue at this point, Tom ended by inviting anyone who loved Jesus to join him over next to the banners. About a third of the group followed us over, and we all formed a circle and joined hands to pray in the midst of shouting from the outside. Tom led us in singing "Amazing Grace" and "Praise God," ending with a prayer for the Christian students in the group to remain strong and not be led astray by the world. I noticed several people had followed us over, standing on the outside, and were not shouting but listening quietly to what Tom was saying. I cannot imagine what was going through their minds, but I know what would have been going through mine had I been one of them: Regret that it was too late to join up, that the circle had already been closed, that they had followed too far behind and were regretting their unwillingness to forsake a good name for the sake of Christ. I do not claim to know their hearts; but I cannot help but think of the illustration between the sheep and the goats that Jesus uses in Matthew 25. As we began taking the banner down for the day, a few atheists came over to apologize and explain how the angry mob did not represent all atheists. Someone had left a note saying the same thing.
We have a very long trip ahead of us tomorrow-we're leaving at 6am from Omaha to Columbus. I should be sleeping but had a cup of legit Austrian coffee tonight after dinner (the International students fed us a real Chinese dinner, and one of their roommates from Austria made me a cup of real Austrian coffee, which incidentally is one of the best cups of coffee I've ever had) His name is Steffan and as we began talking, I shared a bit of the gospel with him. Steffan's point of view is that everyone should be able to believe in God and not have to obey the Bible; his example was about sex (what a shocker!!!) and not waiting for marriage because it should be enjoyed now. When I countered that you give a bit of your heart away every time to a different person, and end up married to someone but thinking of someone or multiple someones on your wedding night, he agreed but insisted that, "Well what if you never get married?-I think you should be able to still enjoy such a wonderful thing." Our discussion ended right before i could share about Jesus never having had sex but being the most fulfilled human being who ever lived. This was because he had to run downstairs help someone and by the time he came back, conversation had changed and i was talking to someone else. I hope what I said made an impact on him as well.
Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (NIV)
Tom took every comment and sentence of hatred from people calmly. Anyone who began spouting off in anger was given silence until he or she was finished. Quietly asking, "Are you done?" Tom would then address the question or correct a lie that had been told about himself, God, or the Bible. Most people in the audience looked with disgust upon whoever was vehemently declaring something, and a student even tried to step in as mediator of the discussions in an effort to control debate.
By 4pm, the crowd had still not settled down. Groups of two's and three's debated amongst themselves, Ashley was still screaming, and the crowd in general was in an uproar. Knowing it was mostly futile to continue at this point, Tom ended by inviting anyone who loved Jesus to join him over next to the banners. About a third of the group followed us over, and we all formed a circle and joined hands to pray in the midst of shouting from the outside. Tom led us in singing "Amazing Grace" and "Praise God," ending with a prayer for the Christian students in the group to remain strong and not be led astray by the world. I noticed several people had followed us over, standing on the outside, and were not shouting but listening quietly to what Tom was saying. I cannot imagine what was going through their minds, but I know what would have been going through mine had I been one of them: Regret that it was too late to join up, that the circle had already been closed, that they had followed too far behind and were regretting their unwillingness to forsake a good name for the sake of Christ. I do not claim to know their hearts; but I cannot help but think of the illustration between the sheep and the goats that Jesus uses in Matthew 25. As we began taking the banner down for the day, a few atheists came over to apologize and explain how the angry mob did not represent all atheists. Someone had left a note saying the same thing.
We have a very long trip ahead of us tomorrow-we're leaving at 6am from Omaha to Columbus. I should be sleeping but had a cup of legit Austrian coffee tonight after dinner (the International students fed us a real Chinese dinner, and one of their roommates from Austria made me a cup of real Austrian coffee, which incidentally is one of the best cups of coffee I've ever had) His name is Steffan and as we began talking, I shared a bit of the gospel with him. Steffan's point of view is that everyone should be able to believe in God and not have to obey the Bible; his example was about sex (what a shocker!!!) and not waiting for marriage because it should be enjoyed now. When I countered that you give a bit of your heart away every time to a different person, and end up married to someone but thinking of someone or multiple someones on your wedding night, he agreed but insisted that, "Well what if you never get married?-I think you should be able to still enjoy such a wonderful thing." Our discussion ended right before i could share about Jesus never having had sex but being the most fulfilled human being who ever lived. This was because he had to run downstairs help someone and by the time he came back, conversation had changed and i was talking to someone else. I hope what I said made an impact on him as well.
Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (NIV)
No comments:
Post a Comment