Dear friends,

This doesn’t happen very often but when it does I feel a little embarrassed and wonder what I did wrong…

All day Thursday I was in the office and had no opportunity to talk to anyone outside the church, but I still wanted to tell the Gospel to someone.

I had a class until 10pm and rushed from here to there with nary a chance to catch my breath. Everyone I was around that day was a Christian… what a bummer!

So I thought I would just randomly pop in on somebody and tell them about Jesus. Around the corner from my class is a little liquor store, so I prayed for whoever was behind the counter that evening and drove there after school.

It was about 10:15pm and this was my last chance…A customer had just finished paying for his merchandise, now was my opportunity!

I said, “Hi. Can I ask you a question? If you were to die right now would you go to Heaven or Hell?”

He replies, “Is this a Christian thing?”

“Uhh, yes,” I stammered.

He states flatly, “I’m alright.”

“Well,” I continue, “Where do you think you might go?”

“I’m alright,” he repeats.

“May I ask you your name?”

“Anton.”

“Can I give you one of my cards in case you have any questions Anton?”

“No. This is a place of business, I’m alright.” I thanked him and said good-bye.

I felt pretty stupid like I did something wrong.

I got in my car and thought about my interaction with Anton. Was I polite? Yes. Was I prayerful? Yes, I prayed about it, not a long time or anything but…

As I meditated on it a little longer I thought that evangelism works best in the context of relationship, even if that relationship is based on a momentary transaction between the customer and the employee. Ahhhhh. Next time I’ll buy a pack of gum.

By: Pastor Steve Sanchez