The Wrong Door

The Wrong Door
By Ginger Reeves

I went to my EE (Evangelism Explosion) class as usual this week.  We were supposed to go share the Gospel with the mother of a friend of my trainer.  We went to what we thought was the right address but our knock was answered by a gruff and very non-motherly voice saying, “Go away!”  We looked at each other and Rusty said, “I think we have the wrong apartment.”

A young man answered the door and Rusty, who was obviously taken back by a young man and not an older woman answering, said that we were in the area doing religious surveys and asked if we could ask him a few questions.  The young man invited us in and introduced himself as Russell.

We started the survey and were then invited to sit down.  As we continued asking Russell questions a friend of his arrived, waved a brief hello to Rusty and I and went to the back.  Rusty continued the survey and stumbled pretty badly.  He missed some of the examples and did not use the proper transition sentences.  Once I realized he wasn’t sticking to the presentation as we had learned it, I started praying the God would clear his mind and give him the words he needed and that this young man would hear the Truth, regardless of Rusty’s presentation.  

Russell did want to receive the gift of eternal life so we prayed for him that he would receive assurance and repentance.  When Rusty asked him if he had a Bible, Russell said he needed to show us something.  Now this young man had some racy photo’s on his wall and a stack of “men’s” magazines on his end table so I was a bit nervous about what he was about to show us.  But he walks across the room and picks up this brand new looking Bible.  He was walking to work last week and passed the dumpster behind his building and saw this Bible in a Lifeway bag.  He picked it up and carried it to work and showed it to his friend, the one in the back of the apartment.  Rick, the friend, told him that God was trying to tell something and he needed to listen up!

Rick then comes out of the back and sits down and talks with us.  He is a believer and goes to a local church.  We don’t invite him to our church as not to steal someone else’s sheep, but we do invite Russell to church, Sunday school, Wednesday night dinner and Sunday night Bible study.  Rick says that sounds really great and he would be interested in coming also.  He has a 16 year old that is “riding the fence” so he wants to go where there is a good youth group.

We spent an hour talking with these two men about God, repentance, religion, church, Sunday school, and forgiveness.  They may or may not come to our church, that’s not the point.  The point is we did what we were supposed to do and maybe we did get the wrong apartment, or maybe we did not.  All I know is one young man will now spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus and another got some encouragement and got to see what we are all called to do.