Hard Time Witnessing

This comes from my friend Francine, telling of a time that just even a simple word about church freaks people out...


Aaron,

This summer when we were in Colorado, Theo and I went out for a run and then met an old guy (80), who was in great physical shape. He was one of those ultra-guys, he had been out since that morning (it was now 7 pm or so), hiking and running in the mountains.

So we talked about that, running, hiking, mountain climbing etc. Nice talking, and he shared that that weekend there was going to be a big event in town (Bike Fest, which we had seen advertised) and on Sunday there was a special race. If we wanted to come?

So we said, "No, we are going to church on Sunday, nicer to go there (church)."

It was as if he had seen the devil, he turned abruptly, and ran off, cursing on his way down, "church? No way man, don't give me that!" He couldn't get away form us quick enough.

________
What does something like this mean? On the one hand, there is a trope in Christian writing and communication where we beat ourselves up, talk about how we do a terrible job witnessing with our lifestyles, etc...

But we also have to keep in mind that people are afraid of the light, for deeds done in drakness will be exposed...

In truth, evangelism is hard work. On the one hand, yes, the Church can give itself a bad name. On the other, the difficulty of repentance keeps some from the Good News.

Nothing can make you feel like a failure like evangelism can. Perhaps worse than being cussed is the apathy?

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