Listening

Over Memorial day weekend, I was down at University Puget Sound for the annual CONVO get together for High School United Methodist Students. We had an amazing speaker named Mark Yaconelli. This youth ministry veteran told many incredible stories that captivated the all of us in attendance. One of his stories stuck out to me specifically.

Mark had a student, we will call him John. John could be very difficult and stuck around the church on the edges. One year John ended up getting caught with drugs and for his sentence in court he was ordered to go to a rehab clinic. This was a pretty special program up in the mountains. As a part of the program each students would end their time with a week in solitude out in the back country. This time was almost a spiritual time to think about all they had been through.

Around this time that John comes back to the youth group Mark finally caves into a friend who has been bugging him about doing role playing in youth group. The youth had been struggling with how to talk about their faith with others and share what it means. So Mark sets up a little stage where there are two chairs and a table in between like a lunch room. Then he asks for two volunteers.

The first one to come up and sit in the "Christian" chair was a young woman named Kim. The second student, who was to sit in the "non-christian" chair was a young man named Chris. As they started out the role play Kim started explaining who Jesus is and why that is important in our lives. Chris shoots back about how we know this. Kim answers that the Bible, God's word helps us understand it. Chris rappidly fires again, "I don't believe in the Bible."

At this point Kim raises her hand. This was the groups signal if they got stuck and wanted someone else to come in and try it out. Another youth, Alex, comes up and fills right in. Alex explains that we can see and know God from all creation. We can see all that God has made and know that God is good and loving.

About this time the group all starts to feel this is a little real for Chris and he was not just role playing. Chris responded angrily to Alex's assertion by explaining that he had lost a friend to a stray bullet from a gang. Where had God been then? Does that observation show God's goodness? Quietly, Alex raised his hand.

At this point Mark started to worry and wonder what he had just done to all the youth. How was he going to rescue the situation and figure out some way to take this. That and how great a suggestion it was from his friend! At this point, none other than John, who had just gotten back from rehab, steps up. Mark's worry went into over drive as he imagined the conversation these two were going to have about faith.

John silently walked up and removed the table from between the chairs. He scooted the chair close to Chris and sat down. Chris then in almost a full shout starts firing. "What are you going to tell me? What, that God is good, or that my friend was meant to die?" Chris kept firing and firing in his angry shout.

At this point only those close up could see it, but John had a single tear sliding down his cheek. Chris noticed this and stopped. John then stood up and picked up Chris and held him close. He embraced him tightly for a few moments and then the two of them walked back to their seats. All the while John had never said a single word.

John had shown God's love by listening rather than throwing words at Chris. He had listened with his heart. This is how all of us should respond. We do not need to reason or argue the world into faith, but show what it really means to believe.

I pray we all can preach the Gospel where ever we go and only if ABSOLUTELY necessary, use words.