I just completed 40 minutes on a stationary bike & some weights at our gym. Some of you guys may not think of 10 kilogram arm curls as weight training, but that is ok with me. Come and say that on the squash court of Friday morning! [right Tony??] :-) )
I just had the following chat in the gym's steam room:
Archie: Will you be watching the game tonight?
Random guy: I wanted to, but I'm writing a test.
Archie: It should be a great game.
(Note to non-soccer fans... Manchester United will be playing Barcelona tonight, for the ultimate European Soccer Trophy)
Random guy: My boyfriend wants to watch it so badly, but he's writing a test tomorrow morning.
(thoughts to self... Boyfriend? Did I hear correctly? Am I in the right steam room? ok, maybe I should stop the conversation right now & pretend that the steam room is just too hot for me. OR... If this guy is comfortable talking about it, maybe I could also be comfortable talking about anything or anyone for that matter)
Archie: So what are you studying?
Random guy: Finances 3rd year
Archie: Where?
Random guy: UCT (university of cape town)
Archie: How's that going?
Random guy: It's tough! but I'm hanging in there....yada yada yada... meaning I can't remember everything he said, but I do remember him saying: "Lord knows... and more yada yada yada
Archie: Hang in there man. After these exams, it's only 6 months 'till the end of the year.
Random guy: So what's it that you do for a living?
Archie: I work at UWC (univ of western cape)
Random guy: Doing what?
Archie: I ask people questions.
Random guy: Sounds mysterious...?
Archie: I ask people questions such as: "what gives you meaning in life?"
Random guy: (no response)
Archie: Feel free to answer or not ...
(Random guy goes on talking mostly about career aspirations for the next 3 minutes - without actually classifying it that way)
...steamroom is getting hot...
Archie: so it's mostly career?
Random guy: Relationships and career
Archie: I noticed you referred to 'the Lord' earlier on... how's that going for you? as in ... what's your religious journey like?
Random guy: I'm strictly atheist.
Archie: What brought you to that conclusion?
Random guy: I grew up Muslim, then last year I was enrolled in a course at university on religion and philosophy. It's not that they promoted Atheism or anything, but that's what I concluded for myself after taking the course last year.
Archie: Of course every course views their subject matter through certain lenses.
Random guy: Right, I agree, there is no such thing as 100% objectivity
Archie: mmm
(few moments silence)
Archie: You mentioned you're strictly atheist? Does this mean you've closed that chapter of the book and have made up your mind completely on where you stand?
Random guy: I guess not - not completely. That would be very close-minded.
Archie: I guess so.
Random guy: It's getting too hot in here. Thanks for the chat. Gotta go.
Archie: Cheers
As I left the locker room, he was also on his way out.
(didn't see his face through the thick steam in the steamroom, but recognized the orange flip-flops on his feet.
I tried to make eye contact, & maybe get in a final greeting, but didn't make a connection again.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why this blog entry?
1) I want to encourage you to do the same.
If we claim to be followers of Christ...
If He is really at the core of who we are...
...it should really be very normal for us to talk about Him.
-just like this 'random guy' found it very easy to talk about his current sexual preferences,
-just like I find it very easily to talk about my favorite sports teams: (go Man U for tonight, and go Blue Bulls, Saturday), or you might find it natural to talk about your favorite car, or coffee, or Pizza...
It should be the most natural thing to be comfortable talking to people about your best friend: Jesus. (assuming that He is in fact your best friend)
Honestly speaking: I don't chat to random people @ the gym or on aeroplanes all the time.
Sometimes I just want to be able to have some personal/ quiet time.
BUT: when I do talk to strangers, and I feel awkward to talk to them about my best friend, Jesus, wouldn't that be strange?
For the most part I feel quite comfortable talking to anyone about God - with a few exceptions.
Until this morning, it's been quite out of my comfort zone to speak to a gay person about God without feeling awkward.
-but today I thought: "Jesus is the most important of everything or anything else to me; If this guy can talk about his 'boyfriend', why couldn't I talk about the most important person in my life as well?
The ice has now been broken. I can do it again.
2) I'd like to believe that as a result of our conversation, Random-guy might think twice before saying that he is strictly atheist.
Who knows, maybe I'll bump into him again OR you or someone else might pick up the conversation where we left it...
If more people like you and I can engage in conversations about God... without condemning, but inviting them to explore for themselves... maybe we might pick up a conversation where someone else has left it...
Wouldn't that be fun?
