Urban Reformation

Last night was our second night out on the streets this Spring.  I confess after recently re-reading Hortio Bonar’s book “Words to Winners of Souls” I find myself sometimes almost in a despair over my own heart’s lack of crying out for the souls of the lost.  Not just on the streets but every where, work, my children, so many.

Bobby McCall and I were alone, we stopped first at a bus stop.  There was a young girl, I’m gessing between the ages of 16 and 18 years of age.  Her name was McKayla, near the same name as my oldest daughter who’s 13.  Bob talked to her about Jesus, she wouldn’t say much of anything but we saw tears form in her eyes.  She had been to a “Mormon” church but hadn’t been in three years.  We weren’t even able to get to any discussion points regarding theology, she was pretty closed off.  We left her one of the FAQ books about the Bible and a number to call if she needs help or has questions, but something was seemingly stirred.  We prayed with her and hope for God’s fruit.

We then ran into a guy named Chris.  He seemed to be nervous and in a hurry and we asked him some of the questions from our little “spiritual survey” from the proclaim course to open up the conversation.  He claimed to believe in Jesus.  We asked him about how good he though he was, and he said his righteousness was like filthy rags, and if he was good he wouldn’t need Jesus.  We also said what would he say if God were to say to him, “Why should I let you in to heaven?”  He said something to the affect of, ” God I don’t deserve anything I’ll sleep at the gate.”

He wasn’t attending a church anywhere, but said he doesn’t believe things happen by accident, we are hoping he calls.

We then stumbled upon four guys who were standing outside of an apartment building.  I started telling them about Jesus.   One of the guys says he already knows about Jesus.  He knows he’s going to hell and he’s 53 years old and that he hasn’t been able to change.  I talked to them about what it means to repent, and to believe but due to the lack of coherency it was difficult to hold a conversation.  I left one of the men a FAQ book and the rest refused, none of them wanted to hear.

I had my first encounter with a couple of Hispanic guys.  They asked about what religion I’m from and I said we are from Faith Community Church with a baptist background.  They told me if I didn’t believe in the Virgin Mary that they don’t want to speak to me about Jesus.  They would hear nothing from me because I believed Mary was only a woman.  I will tell you this broke my heart, they said they were Catholic, but I got little conversation out of them after I said that I don’t believe Mary was anything but a chosen woman of God, that she was not diety.

We then came upon a prostitute who initially told us her name was Amber.  We started out with the questions, and one of the questions is “If you could ask God one question what would it be?”  A lot of people ask this question ( Why did God make me like this? ) or ( What is the meaning of this life ) these are common answers, few people ask for things.  This young lady said she’d ask about her life and if she could go home and be with her family.  It was a different response from the norm.  She had her children given to her mother to raise and she was removed from them.  She said she was addicted to crack and asked why she keeps going back to the streets. We attempted to explain sin to her, how sin entered the world and how all we do all the time is sin the only way not to sin or to be free from it is faith in Jesus Christ.  Not that we won’t sin if we believe but that in our sin God changes our hearts from a heart of stone and puts in a heart of flesh and our hearts that were once seared, are now soft.  We told her that God translates us from being an enemy of God or from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.  We talked about crying out to God to change her heart, that faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17  She had some questions we did our best to answer.  I don’t think I’ve walked away from a situation where I’ve felt more helpless than in this instance.  There are so many details I’m sure I’m not recalling.

However, Amber told us her name at the end was Lisa Bond.  We saw a guy down the block we thought might be her pimp, and she had a large knot on the side of her face that looked like it was fresh from being knocked around by someone.  We asked her to take God seriously and to go home.  To get a way from the street, to really find out, and to cry out to God.  We prayed for her and then we left.  But I was more blown away by this encounter than the rest.   We spent most of our time with her last evening.  You could tell she was at one time a pretty young girl but the street had worn on her a great deal.  She was worn and tired looking.  One thing we spoke about was hope.

I remember my pastor saying hope is the daughter of Faith.  I’m not sure where he got that quote or if it’s his own, but I pray for faith for Lisa, that her faith might produce hope in Christ.  I pray that God might save her.

We ended the night by walking back and seeing a young man who was looking for 36 dollars to get to Joplin MO, his friend who had the car got pulled over and hauled off to jail because he was drinking.  We passed by this guy and my flesh had little pity on the guy.  I couldn’t take the guy to Joplin but I’ve been reading the sermon on the mount lately, and recalled in the moment.

And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. – Matthew 5:41

I hadn’t done a study on the word “forces” in this verse, and for whatever reason this verse came to mind.  I spent some moments contemplating if I was being like those who passed by the man on the road in the story of the good Samaritan.  I had little compassion for this man, as it was his own sin which got him in his predicament, not a band of robbers, yet I have been moved lately by understanding obedience out of love for Christ not necessarily for  this man or his sin.  I pray God would grant me a love for my enemies and His.  If it weren’t for God loving/calling me inspite of my wrteched sinfulness, I would still be seeking after my sin.  I thank God for His grace.  We asked him if he need a ride to the Greyhound station and he ended up refusing the ride…

I’ll leave you with this, as this has been what I have been chewing on lately.

I’m  reading Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.  Lloyd-Jones said several things that made me take pause last evening.  Here are some of them:

There are certain general lessons, I suggest, to be drawn from the Beatitudes. First, all Christians are to be like this. Read the Beatitudes, and there you have a description of what every Christian is meant to be. It is not merely the description of some exceptional Christians. Our Lord does not say here that He is going to paint a picture of what certain outstanding characters are going to be and can be in this world. It is His description of every single Christian.

I pause with that for just a moment, and emphasize it, because I think we must all agree that the fatal tendency introduced by the Roman Catholic Church, and indeed by every branch of the Church that likes to use the term ‘Catholic’, is the fatal tendency to divide Christians into two groups––the religious and the laity, exceptional Christians and ordinary Christians, the one who makes a vocation of the Christian life and the man who is engaged in secular affairs. That tendency is not only utterly and completely unscriptural; it is destructive ultimately of true piety, and is in many ways a negation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no such distinction in the Bible. There are distinctions in offices-apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, evangelists, and so on. But these Beatitudes are not a description of offices; they are a description of character. And from the standpoint of character, and of what we are meant to be, there is no difference between one Christian and another.

And:

The second principle I would put in this form; all Christians are meant to manifest all of these characteristics. Not only are they meant for all Christians, but of necessity, therefore, all Christians are meant to manifest all of them. In other words it is not that some are to manifest one characteristic and others to manifest another. It is not right to say some are meant to be ‘poor in spirit’, and some are meant to ‘mourn’, and some are meant to be ‘meek’, and some are meant to be ‘peacemakers’, and so on. No; every Christian is meant to be all of them, and to manifest all of them, at the same time. Now I think it is true and right to say that in some Christians some will be more manifest than others; but that is not because it is meant to be so. It is just due to the imperfections that still remain in us. When Christians are finally perfect, they will all manifest all these characteristics fully; but here in this world, and in time, there is a variation to be seen. I am not justifying it; I am simply recognizing it. The point I am emphasizing is that we are every one of us meant to manifest all of them together and at the same time. Indeed, I think we can even go further and say that the character of this detailed description is such, that it becomes quite obvious, the moment we analyze each Beatitude, that each one of necessity implies the other. For instance, you cannot be ‘poor in spirit’ without ‘mourning’ in this sense; and you cannot mourn without ‘hungering and thirsting after righteousness’; and you cannot do that without being one who is ‘meek’ and a peacemaker’. Each one of these in a sense demands the others. It is impossible truly to manifest one of these graces, and to conform to the blessing that is pronounced upon it, without at the same time inevitably showing the others also. The Beatitudes are a complete whole and you cannot divide them; so that, whereas one of them may be more manifest perhaps in one person than in another, all of them are there. The relative proportions may vary, but they are all present, and they are all meant to be present at the same time.

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