Confessing Sin to a Stranger
December 2nd, 2009“I often express to my congregation how I pray for opportunities to witness to strangers. These prayers often include a plea that God would give me discernment and that by His will he would walk somebody right up to me, if He so chooses. I can testify to many occasions where strangers have walked to my door with such unusual requests and circumstance that I can only conclude that my prayers have been answered. Then, of course, there are the regular “door to door” folks that get my attention as well, and I include even these folks as answers to my prayers. It is my joy to testify to many exciting and powerful encounters while sowing the seed of the Gospel wherever I am able. This story is about one of those instances, but it is the first I have felt compelled to write about because the circumstances that initiated this witnessing experience are unique (to me) and I hope that it encourages you to not be discouraged by anything and to carry on as witnesses to the forgiveness of sins through Christ Jesus our Savior.”
-DWC
Annually, my wife and I travel to the Youth Ministry Conclave in Arlington, TX, as exhibitors representing Onecamp Youth Camps (@Onecamp360). This trip has become increasingly complicated over the last few years as our family has grown. What was once a semi-vacation and getaway has in recent years included a baby, a stroller, a diaper bag, and all other necessities for “convenient” travel with a small child. While in Arlington, between the bursts of rain and our 5 month old’s feeding schedule, there were multiple times that my wife had to excuse herself to the hotel as the Onecamp360 crew manned our booth. At the close of the designated exhibition hall hours on Monday evening, we gathered and planned our annual dinner to Pappadeaux’s, and with the requirement of a carseat and the need for some carpooling, we decided to drive our van in convoy to our destination.
First, I had to stop to pick up my wife and child at the hotel, but we were early. The original communication was for a rendezvous at 5:30pm in the hotel lobby, it was 5:25pm. As Phillip, a fellow minister, and I waited in the drop off/pick up lane in front of the hotel, a kind valet walked to the passenger side window asking, “Where y’all headed?” I answered (now pay attention to this),”We’re headed over to Pappadeaux’s for dinner, just waiting on my wife and daughter to come down from the room.” The valet nodded and then leaned into the window and asked if I knew how to get there. As I explained that we had dined there before and that we would be able to find our way, the conversation was about to change.
This is where things get uncomfortable. Somehow between the very small gap between my front bumper and the rear bumper of the truck I was following an unknown woman squeezed her way between our two vehicles and made her way to the lobby. Her ability to squeeze between our two bumpers was possibly aided by the extremely tight pants that she wore. Tight pants that both David the valet and David (Me) the preacher with quick equally condemning glances took full notice of. In the moment that both of our eyes returned from the corners of their sockets they also met and the young man said with a grin, “Thank God for peripheral vision.”
My heart sank, my stomach knotted, my witness was impaired, the excitement of a one-to-one witnessing opportunity changed to the illness of conviction and the paralysis of my tongue. To make matters worse all of this was transpiring over top of my minister friend and passenger seated right next to me. All my exhorting of my fellow ministers concerning our witness and my aggressive take on evangelism was flickering and fading like a bad light bulb.
to be continued…