As I was shopping at Albertson’s in Lomita, I noticed a little kid with a patch of flames sewn to the back of his pants. I caught a glimpse of the T-shirt he was wearing and was curious as to what it said.

“Excuse me. What does your shirt say?” As he turns around I see that it says: “Why would I lie? If I were to lie, my pants would be on fire.” So I ask him, “Do you know what commandment you would be breaking?”

His Mom answers nicely, “We don’t know them in order…”

I continue, “Do you know what happens if you break just one?”

Silence.

“Do you know how to be forgiven when you break a commandment?”

“Uh, uh,” stammers the kid. “Pray?”

Mom coaches him. “Repent,” she whispers.

The kid replies, “Repent? Pray?”

“What else?” I ask.

“C’mon,” says Mom with a bit of frustration. “Now’s the time to show off your Christian education.”

No answer.

I prod a little further, “You need to believe in Jesus, right?”

There’s an uncomfortable silence as mother and son start to ignore me as if I’m some sort of Christian fool, of which of course, I am. To relieve them of their misery I start to walk away. But before I do, I leave them with some food for thought. “Remember, it’s more than having a Christian education. It’s about Jesus.”

Mom brushes me off with an unconcerned, “Mmm, hmm.”

*****

Question: Have you ever felt like an idiot for Jesus when witnessing about him? Tell me at [email protected]