I met this guy (we’ll call him Joshua) on the street in a popular downtown area one night while he was waiting for a taxi. The first question that I asked him was, “How many brand names of beers can you name?” First there were the easy ones… Budweiser, Miller, Coors, Heineken. Then it got a little tougher, but he was able to pull out some names of a few others… Red Stripe, Samuel Adams, Rolling Rock. In the end, he was able to rattle off about 16 brand names before he decided to stop. He had a great sense of pride after being able to pull off such an impressive list.
Then he was ready for my second question.
My heart started racing, because somehow I knew that this question was going to make him think in a way that I wasn’t sure that he was expecting. In fact I almost didn’t want to ask it, but I mustered up the strength to force the words out of my mouth.
“Okay,” I told him, “Now, how many of the Ten Commandments can you name?”
And there it was… I’ll never forget the look on his face. It was that sort of deer-in-the-headlights look. If I could read his mind, I’m sure that he was thinking something like, “oh (dang), I’m busted!”
I almost immediately felt bad for they guy. I knew for sure that he wasn’t going to be nearly as proud or confident about this answer as he was the last one. But he started to squeak out a couple of the obvious ones… ”don’t kill people… don’t lie… umm… don’t steal things…”
Four.
After racking his brain, and even making up a few of his own, four of the ten is all that he could manage. I handed him the checklist with all ten of the Commandments with the ones that he got right checked off. I didn’t really know what to say to him at this point because he seemed to be in a bit of shock regarding his lack of ability to respond correctly.
Or maybe it was shame.
Not knowing what to really say to him at this point, I simply asked, “What are you thinking right now?”
He stood there staring at the list, and pointing at one of the items he said, “This one, right here. I need to do that one. I just need to do it. This one…” After asking him which one he was referring to, he responded, “This one. Remember the Sabbath. I need to get back into church. That’s the one. I really need to get back into church.”
Then I knew that I didn’t have to say much to him, because the Holy Spirit was saying much more to him than I could ever say. Joshua’s taxi arrived shortly after that, and I was able to offer some brief encouragement before we parted ways. I believe that as he walked away something had changed inside of him. Something real. Something awesome. Something eternal.
Photo by mindwhisperings, via High Calling Blogs on Flickr. Post by Dan King of BibleDude.net.
Check out the bonus video footage at BibleDude.net!
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I actually feel that “keeping the Sabbath ” gets more and more difficult in this day and age…rush rush rush 24/7 and all.
I agree 100%…
I also realize that the Commandment to keep the Sabbath doesn’t really mean ‘go to church’. But I appreciate that ‘Joshua’ made that kind of connection.
But you are right… We often get too busy, and just need to slow down. Not only do we need to feed our spirits, but also set aside that time to just worship Him.
I love the opening of this piece! Made me totally smile.
And Elizabeth’s art is stunning. Which seems fitting… as we enter into Joshua’s ultimate reaction.
Thanks L.L.! I was thinking of you when I wrote it!
And the artwork is really cool… and agree that it was very fitting considering how Joshua was challenged that night, not to mention what I was starting to realize as well…
Your experience jives with a study that was done a few years ago, quizzing people on the street about the 10 Commandments. Most people could get “don’t lie,” “don’t kill,” and “don’t commit adultery,” but the rest was a revelation — especially the Sabbath.
Cool! I particularly enjoyed being able to survey people with something else, like beer, that is very worldly and commercialized. I think that helped a great deal, especially when they compared their lack of knowledge on the Commandments to something that ultimately was (or should be) much less significant in their lives.
Thanks for sharing that Megan! I’ll have to look up details on that study!
You are a sly one, Dan… from beer (cool!) to the Ten Commandments (uh-oh!) You planted a seed, and now the Holy Spirit will water and grow.
Will you ever see this guy again?
LOL!!!
As far as seeing him again. This was a while ago, and I probably wouldn’t recognize him if I did see him. I definitely hope that it is one of those things where I run into him in Heaven and we can look back at that as being a pivotal moment in his life. But I probably will never know on this side of Heaven….
sparkley
twinkley
believe
into the taxi
moved
by the Spirit
Too cool! I love it when you share these nAncY! Thanks!
Remember the Sabbath…it’s about just doing that one “simple thing”… REMEMBERING… why can’t we just do that?
Thank you, great post!
Thank you Becky! It should be pretty simple, huh? We definitely should strive to keep it simple and in their proper perspective.
Thanks for sharing!
I know those 10 commandments, but (being a bit feisty) I’d have answered that I only need two: Love God, Love Neighbor.
Very nice post.
Thanks Anne! You know… there is some teaching that says that when Jesus taught that, he was summing up the Ten.
Love God = the first four (or five, depending on your translation)
Love Others = the rest of them
I agree with you that is the most important thing. But it is interesting to see the conviction that comes when using the Ten as a baseline for non-believers.
Thanks for sharing! That would be a great perspective to bring into a conversation with someone like Joshua in this story!
What can I say? Beer and the ten commandments? You are awesome.
Thanks Laura! It is a cool contrast between worldliness and commercialism versus what should be a more important moral code and spirituality. And it is a fun survey too!
What a great icebreaker! I hope “Joshua” acts on that first thought he had after you showed him the entire list.
I hope so too… still praying for him…