Are You a Christian?

So when I was in high school, we had a Sunday School teacher named Mr. Beck. His teaching method always included us breaking up into small groups and writing on butcher paper about some topic he chose for the week. We then would all get together and the groups would share what they put on the paper. One week, he had two groups think of the most important questions you can ask in your lifetime, and he had two other groups (think up what these questions would be and) give answers to these questions (without knowing what the other groups put). Then we gathered together and shared our answers. I can't remember what everyone put, but I do remember two questions that were asked and answered. The two questions I remember were, "Will you marry me?" and "Are you a Christian?".

So lately I have been thinking... How often do we ask someone "Are you a Christian?" I can't answer for everyone. Some people are born evangelists, and they may be in the habit of asking people this. I however am not in the habit of doing this. It's not that I don't care; it's just not something that is on my mind 24/7. However, lately this has changed. It's not on my mind 24/7, but God has been teaching me to be more concerned about this. I don't know if it is the study of Revelation and end times or if it is because I know of some kids in my youth group that aren't saved. Honestly, it is probably both situations that have led me to care more for the lost.

Last week, we studied Revelation 16, where it is talking about the Seven Bowl Judgements. All of these people had to endure so much. The first bowl brought sores to those who had the mark of the best. The second and third bowl judgments affected the bodies of water, which turned into blood. We (the leaders at CBS) discussed how the people with the sores would probably want to clean them with water, and now, it was not possible. Then the fourth bowl had an effect on the sun, in which it scorched people with fire, and they were seared by intense heat. This would just be agony! Devin pointed out that people would be sweating and the sweat would get into the sores. (Eww! Gross!) The fifth bowl describes the throne of the beast being plunged into darkness, and it talked about how the men gnawed their tongues because of the agony they were experiencing, but not once did they repent! For the sixth bowl, the river Euphrates is dried up to prepare the way for the batle at Armageddon. The seventh bowl is the final judgement and includes a mighty earthquake and 100 pound hail stones falling on the men. Okay, so maybe that was too much detail, but it just got me thinking. I don't want anyone to have to experience anything like this.

I had a dream earlier last week, and I'm pretty sure all of this triggered it. It felt so real, and I honestly feel like God was trying to tell me something through it. I had a dream that I was at my kid's high school. I was walking with James, and some of his classmates came up and started talking to us. One of the kids made a comment on how James always wears Christian t-shirts, and he was mocking him. I felt led to ask him if he was a Christian, and I did. He didn't really know how to respond, but I could tell he was not a Christian through his response - or lack thereof. I tried to talk to him about it, but all of sudden fear came upon me, and I was second-guessing myself, and I got all tongue-tied, and I just couldn't say what I wanted to say to him. They had to leave to go to class, and I was left there feeling like I had blown an opportunity to tell him what I believe. I was so mad and disappointed with myself. I went to my office (which happened to be at the school), and I sat down and prayed that somehow I would see this kid again and be able to witness to him - this time do a better job. As God would have it, as soon as I finished praying, the same kid came into my office, and he actually seemed curious about "this whole Christianity thing" and asked me questions. This time, I felt more equipped to witness to him. I told him what we as Christians believe, and I told him about Jesus and his life here on earth, and his sacrifice on the cross, and I gave him a Bible and went through some scripture passages with him.

If nothing else, this taught me that we need to be praying for the lost and we need to be praying that God will equip us to be able to witness to the lost. We also need to be praying for opportunities to minister to the lost. I'm not one who likes to strike up conversations with people I don't know, but I have felt led to do this in the future. I've just been thinking about situations where I can do this. The next time I have to get an oil change for my car, and I'm sitting there waiting with other people, that would be a good opportunity to ask, "Are you a Christian?" and just go from there. There's no telling how others will respond to this or react to this question. Some may be hostile, some may be curious, some may already be believers and appreciate the question. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it is our job as Christians to do this, and we need to be ready.