Do you know where you are going......??????
I do. I am in. Or in "his" words, "I am ok". Maybe I should have had him sign something. You know, so that when I arrived at the pearly gates, I could show St. Peter......."he said I was OK, here is the proof."
"He" is a guy at Becca's work. And let me start off by saying, his heart is in the right place, but his "witnessing" could use a little fine tuning.
Not long after we had received our meal we were approached by a co-worker of Becca's with whom I am unfamiliar. "Hi Becca, I am going to sit down with you guys, I am lonely" OK, I thought....why not. Immediately after we were introduced and had concluded our small talk about what we had ordered for lunch, he invited Becca to church with him that evening. She said "no". He then asked me. In my annoying way of trying to overcome and be too nice say "no", but then offer a ten paragraph (not really) explanation of why I can't. I mean, come on, Becca. Be nice to this guy. Why was she so direct....? --I found out why.
I, out of this unexplained feeling of obligation, asked where he went to church. (first mistake) He informed me he went to the Assembly of God church and we commenced to having small talk about his preacher.....nice guy.....blah, blah, blah. I, working at the funeral home, have met most of the local preachers and was somewhat familiar with him. Becca's co-worker then told me about a guest speaker they had been having and how awesome he was. He even had a faith healing service. With further conversation he spoke about his church and faith healing, speaking in tongues, rolling around on the floor, and the use of serpents (which he said his church didn't do) Becca voiced her skepticism and I agreed. We both believe that God can make anything happen.....but neither of us had ever been exposed to this.......
He then asked Becca if she went to church...she said "no". And then, (and I felt condescendingly) put his arm around her and hammered her with more questions...LOTS of questions. She finally stated to him that she "did not want to discuss religion with him"....he acted wounded and continued on. I took issue with this and immediately came to her "rescue", which I am sure she did not need. I explained that Becca did indeed have a good relationship with God and....the short version....to nicely back off.
This of course brought to life that I am Catholic......GASP! After discussing different aspects of our faith, I recounted a story about two ministers that I overheard talking about Heaven while at work one day. This story depicted what I believe. The ministers, both of different faiths, stated that they agreed that Heaven was like town A and earth like town B. There were many ways to get to town A from town B. The roads were representative of Christianity and all of the different religions. For instance, you could take the interstate, a combination of highways, the outer road, even back roads could get you there. The point being that there were many different ways, ie. different religious beliefs, about God and the admittance into Heaven. There is not one faith that holds the only road. "He" then asked me what road I was taking. (I think poking fun at my analogy.) I stated "the interstate, the shortest and fastest route....I am Catholic, after all." I was just joking..of course, with a guy who probably didn't find any humor in the situation. He was after all, trying to save me.
He asked me what I believed. Instead of rattling off "Our Profession of Faith", I loosely recounted the prayer that I have seen at the bottom of hundreds of mass emails......"God is the source of my existence. Without Him I am nothing, with Him I can do anything through Christ that strengthens me." It was me reciting this email prayer that lifted the burden of worrying about my soul from his shoulders. He told me....."You are OK, now please forward this to 10 people in 30 seconds or you will have bad luck for a year.....and then you will go to hell." OK, OK, OK......I made up the last part. He just said "You are OK" and I am truly glad that he thinks so.
"He" is a guy at Becca's work. And let me start off by saying, his heart is in the right place, but his "witnessing" could use a little fine tuning.
Not long after we had received our meal we were approached by a co-worker of Becca's with whom I am unfamiliar. "Hi Becca, I am going to sit down with you guys, I am lonely" OK, I thought....why not. Immediately after we were introduced and had concluded our small talk about what we had ordered for lunch, he invited Becca to church with him that evening. She said "no". He then asked me. In my annoying way of trying to overcome and be too nice say "no", but then offer a ten paragraph (not really) explanation of why I can't. I mean, come on, Becca. Be nice to this guy. Why was she so direct....? --I found out why.
I, out of this unexplained feeling of obligation, asked where he went to church. (first mistake) He informed me he went to the Assembly of God church and we commenced to having small talk about his preacher.....nice guy.....blah, blah, blah. I, working at the funeral home, have met most of the local preachers and was somewhat familiar with him. Becca's co-worker then told me about a guest speaker they had been having and how awesome he was. He even had a faith healing service. With further conversation he spoke about his church and faith healing, speaking in tongues, rolling around on the floor, and the use of serpents (which he said his church didn't do) Becca voiced her skepticism and I agreed. We both believe that God can make anything happen.....but neither of us had ever been exposed to this.......
He then asked Becca if she went to church...she said "no". And then, (and I felt condescendingly) put his arm around her and hammered her with more questions...LOTS of questions. She finally stated to him that she "did not want to discuss religion with him"....he acted wounded and continued on. I took issue with this and immediately came to her "rescue", which I am sure she did not need. I explained that Becca did indeed have a good relationship with God and....the short version....to nicely back off.
This of course brought to life that I am Catholic......GASP! After discussing different aspects of our faith, I recounted a story about two ministers that I overheard talking about Heaven while at work one day. This story depicted what I believe. The ministers, both of different faiths, stated that they agreed that Heaven was like town A and earth like town B. There were many ways to get to town A from town B. The roads were representative of Christianity and all of the different religions. For instance, you could take the interstate, a combination of highways, the outer road, even back roads could get you there. The point being that there were many different ways, ie. different religious beliefs, about God and the admittance into Heaven. There is not one faith that holds the only road. "He" then asked me what road I was taking. (I think poking fun at my analogy.) I stated "the interstate, the shortest and fastest route....I am Catholic, after all." I was just joking..of course, with a guy who probably didn't find any humor in the situation. He was after all, trying to save me.
He asked me what I believed. Instead of rattling off "Our Profession of Faith", I loosely recounted the prayer that I have seen at the bottom of hundreds of mass emails......"God is the source of my existence. Without Him I am nothing, with Him I can do anything through Christ that strengthens me." It was me reciting this email prayer that lifted the burden of worrying about my soul from his shoulders. He told me....."You are OK, now please forward this to 10 people in 30 seconds or you will have bad luck for a year.....and then you will go to hell." OK, OK, OK......I made up the last part. He just said "You are OK" and I am truly glad that he thinks so.
Comments
At my old company, I had a co-worker who attended a little evangelical church held in someones home or something. He made his own bumper stickers (white stickers with messages he wrote out in a black sharpie marker) and he also posted signs throughout his work station. The only two I can remember now were "Abortion is Murder" and "Jesus Saves". These signs were hung in an area where clients could see them. I think we all got a little fed up with the preaching and someone took their own marker to the second sign. After they were done, it read, "Jesus Saves...at Wal-Mart"