Matt 16:26 (KJV) 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
And sadly, for two young men (one of whom was from our town), Friday was truly a black day for them: they both died in an auto accident at 1:30 a.m. after their vehicle left a rural road and hit a tree. The obituaries make no mention of the Lord Jesus Christ, or their relationship with the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Judge Who will judge all men, but, from all appearances, those two young men, one 21 and the other 22, are both now in hell.
If someone had approached them on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday) and said “Do you think you’ll die tonight in an auto accident?” I will almost guarantee they would have said “No way! Are you crazy?” And yet they are both now gone.
For us, Black Friday was spent with a Pastor and his family that were visiting our family from out of state. We had a wonderful day of fellowship and encouragement in the Lord Jesus Christ.
On Saturday, we went to the nearest large town and one the stores we visited was a major outdoor/adventure store. It was extremely busy. I didn’t need to purchase anything (as was the case with most of the others in the family – I think one person was needing to make a purchase), so we all split up into groups of two or three to see if we could share the life-giving gospel and hand out gospel tracts on the day after Black Friday.
NOT EASY!
We were not doing a mass tract distribution because we respected the fact that we were on private property, and the store wanted people to be shopping. As such, we only gave tracts to people if we had a conversation with them and they were interested in receiving tracts. I had quite a few conversations – and I’ve found the conversations can be hard to start. Not every conversation turns to the Gospel – but that is always the goal…
It started with the older couple outside at a table where they were selling raffle tickets for a shotgun. We talked about hunting (I’m not a hunter of animals, but am a fisher of men) and the weather. Towards the end of the conversation I gave them a few tracts (including a million dollar bill) which they accepted.
Inside, a lady was passing out postcards that encouraged people to sign up for a store credit card. I said “Great – I’ll trade you. I’ll take one of those and you can have these to look at later.” She accepted the tracts and I talked with her about the credit card for a few minutes.
As we walked around in the store I noticed an older gentleman looking at ball caps embroidered with the name of the store on the cap. I remembered the credit card offer in my pocket and pulled it out to start a conversation with him. “Did you know that if you sign up for their credit card they’ll give you a ball cap?” I showed him the postcard and we started talking. We talked about credit cards, interest rates, and society in general for a few minutes before we parted company (I didn’t offer him any tracts).
I went upstairs where I saw an older gentleman leaning on a railing looking out over the store and some of their nature displays. I leaned on the railing next to him and also looked out over the nature displays. After a minute I took my weight off the railing and said “Whoa – I hope we’re not both putting all our weight on this thing – who knows how strong it is.” He laughed, and we started talking about building codes and engineers. He then asked where I was from (nearby), while it turns out he was a tourist from another state. We talked for five or ten minutes. I gave him a little souvenir (a million dollar bill tract) and attempted to bring up the gospel. However, his wife showed up right then and he wanted to move on – so the friendly conversation came to an amicable conclusion.
Instead of actively walking around and fishing for men, I thought I’d sit on a bench near an indoor pond and see if any fish would “jump into the boat” by sharing the bench. Soon after I sat down a young teenage boy sat down and was talking on his walkie-talkie and looking around. I started a conversation by asking if he had a ham radio or a talk-about. He said it was just a talk-about. I mentioned I have my ham license but that the funny thing is, in the more than 10 years since I was licensed, I have never once talked on a ham radio. He was waiting for his parents to pick him up. I looked at my watch and told him I was sitting for a few minutes but had to be up at the front of the store in three minutes to meet up with the rest of my family (we had pre-arranged the schedule). I shared a few tracts with him and encouraged him to show them to his parents and read/discuss them with them.
At the entrance I saw a family of plain brethren gathered and waiting (probably for others that were still shopping). With their conservative clothes they definitely stood out from the other holiday shoppers! I’m guessing they were probably Amish or Mennonite. I went up to the father and said it was a blessing to see some plain brethren (I hope they are OK with that title??), shook his hand, and asked if they believe the Bible is God’s Word. He said they do – so I said he would probably enjoy reading some of the tracts we were handing out at the store. We had a nice chat for another minute or so (they were from out of town and were visiting his sister).
I had a few other conversations that didn’t go far – but, all in all, I had a wonderful time meeting people and learning about them and attempting to share the gospel. From past experience I know that shopping areas can be very difficult places to share the gospel:
- Mark 10:25 (KJV) - 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
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