Don't Be the Sideline Sluggard :)

I’m walking among the thousands of people. Some trying to go here, other’s there, anywhere. I’m among the loosened crowd as we push through the plaza. And there it begins. The megaphone is up, the voice is loud. “Come to Jesus!  Come to God! You’re dying in your sin!” I turn my music up louder; I push on, ultimately placing it in the background noise. A handout is pushed in my face, “Come to the cross” it says. My frustration is building, I push on some more, until I’m no longer zig and zagging among people, back on my way.

Wasn’t that an exciting little narrative poetry? Yes, I thought so too. I wrote it myself which is why it’s probably like the worst piece of poetry you will ever read :P If you really know me, you know I’m not an English-major and you know I’m good at science and math, but English is not one of my fortes. But that’s okay. What is this poem about? You might ask. Well, if you attend the wonderful University of Georgia than you will quickly identify that this poem is about Tate Plaza during the day. If you do not attend the great and wonderful University of Georgia, then it is about Tate Plaza :P Tate is kinda at the center of campus and is most likely one of the busiest places on campus, and everyday there is usually a pastor standing there either with or without a megaphone yelling the Good News of Jesus Christ.

For most of last semester and the beginning of this one, I would get rather frustrated with those pastors, and I’m a Christian… I always wanted to yell back, “Stop Yelling, I already Believe.” Or “Yelling at people won’t make them believe you!” And I would walk away with this bad taste in my mouth that they weren’t sharing the Gospel properly.

Notice what I just said, “I would walk away with this bad taste in my mouth that they weren’t sharing the Gospel properly.”

If I wasn’t a Christian and I read that someone said that, I would probably think that they had everything figured out and that they had their nose stuck in the air.

Back in January, when I was home this weekend, my dad and I got into a bit of an argument on proselytizing (big word for saying that you are either going to heaven or hell), and I was claiming that there is a time and place for it all and that you do not need to proselytize all the time, but dad was saying that you should be doing your best to tell people the Good News and part of that message is the concept that there is a heaven and hell and if you aren’t going to heaven, then you are going to hell. And as much as I wanted to fight him at the time, I realized he was right. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a way to do it in love and a way not to do it in love. The love aspect can make all of the difference. But back to the pastors at Tate Plaza.

I realized after the argument my dad, that those men are doing a better job at verbally sharing the Gospel than I am. I always want to claim, I share Jesus by the life I live, and that’s all great and dandy, except if you don’t see me enough or don’t know me very well, then you don’t know the life I live. I don’t smell like smoke, so you know I’m not a smoker, but you don’t know if I go and party, getting wasted every night. (** DISCLAIMER: I don’t party and I don’t underage drink. Just to make sure we are clear. In most circumstances in life, I am a rule follower. Haha) So, the way I live my life is only evident to those who spend time with me. Those pastors yelling with the megaphone do a better job at telling people about the Good News than I do.

Sometimes, it’s not about whether or not people break down and cry and accept Jesus as you hold them in your arms; sometimes, it’s telling them the Good News and then later in life, it comes up again. “Oh, yeah, that one girl or that one boy, said this or did this for me or gave me this and it said the same thing that this person is saying. Maybe there is something more to this life and this world.” I need to do a better job at sharing the Gospel, and I need to put my fears behind me and just do it. What about you? Are you sharing the Good News or are you sitting on the sidelines hoping for someone else to do it?