I had a conversation a few weeks ago with a woman who outwardly fit the bill of “Good Christian.” She was kind. She helped others even when they didn’t ask. She gave without a thought of getting anything back. The conversation was held over a lunch that she had paid for out of the goodness of her heart, and she had spent most of the day helping me and my brother at our work in the 90 degree weather.
Like so many things in life that look perfect, there was a catch here as well. The woman I spoke with was a devoted follower of Islam, not Christianity. Her head scarf had provided her more protection from the blazing sun over the course of the day than my triple application of sunscreen.
The conversation was about Christianity. Amazingly, she was the one who started it. As a girl she had witnessed “Christian” children partaking in common bullying at a station at a children’s event, only to turn around and paint “Jesus loves you” on crafts at the next activity. The trend, though childish at the time, had continued through the rest of her life. Everywhere she looked, she saw Christians praising God and cursing others with the same mouth. (James 3:10.)
“I just don’t see how anyone like that can truly be as good as they claim to be,” she concluded. “And yet people like that are the ones that claim to be in the right.”
I finished chewing before responding, considering my rebuttal. Without any effort, the response came to me.
“Absolutely,” I said.
Even though she looked surprised, I pushed on. “If you measure Christianity by examining Christians, you will always find exactly what Christians are: totally horrible, fully depraved human beings. To get the truth of what Christianity is and what it stands for, you instead have to look at the God they serve.”
She objected to the first part of my statement, saying, “I don’t know that I would call any of those people horrible, or depraved, but they do have a serious issue that needs to be dealt with.”
“No, it’s true,” I said. “One of the ‘pillars’ of Christianity is the understanding that mankind is totally fallen and depraved, and we can do nothing to save ourselves. That’s what sets Christianity apart from every other religion. We believe that you do not need to do anything to receive salvation, because there’s nothing you can do. It’s only through accepting Jesus’ sacrifice that you can be gifted salvation. Anyone who says otherwise is not a true Christian.”
“But there’s baptism,” she pointed out.
“Baptism is an outward sign of committal,” I said. “Not part of salvation.”
I quoted Romans 10:9 to her, which describes the process of salvation in simple terms. The only things needed are a confession that Jesus is lord, and a believing heart.
She said she’d never thought of Christianity that way before.
The total clash of worlds struck me harder that day than I’d ever experienced before. I’ve known that since before I can remember, and yet here was a woman many years older who had never even considered a God that offered free salvation. The thought of that was crushing. I still find it hard to believe that she has gone through the entirety of her life with a god who stands aloof. Her god does not love her. Her god cares only about obedience.
My God, on the other hand, offered me free salvation because He loves me.
Think about that contrast.
I’d like to point out two things before I finish. The first is that this woman lives in the United States, less than twenty minutes from my house. People like this live everywhere, not just in faraway places like Asia and Africa. They live in your neighborhood, and the Great Commission means it is our duty to reach them as well.
The second thing is that I– the Christian representative in the conversation– am an 18 year-old not even college kid. I have no degree, no training to reach the unreached, no eloquence, and it’s not my day job to present the gospel. I work for a party rental business. If I can have conversations like this, so can you.
Praying God gives you the opportunity!