Are You Crazy?

One of my preaching buddies (Scotty) and myself braved a cold California Saturday--cold by Southern California’s standards, that is. We had a heckler on the microphone at our regular open air preaching at Huntington Beach. He was a science teacher who was a little contentious when it came to the gospel. The reason for the contention was that he had his own image of what God was like, and so the moral Law offended him. It rocked his idol. When he heard that God considered lust to be adultery, his reaction was to say, “What’s wrong with lust? This is Huntington Beach, with all its pretty girls. Are you crazy?” I said, “Hey, what’s wrong with a little pedophilia; with all the little boys? It’s pleasurable. Are your crazy?” He looked at me, and said a refreshing, “You have a point there.” Wow. He told us that someone had invited him to go to church the next day, and that he was going to go. He then revealed another misconception about the gospel. “God murdered His own son? That makes no sense!” When I explained that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself--that Jesus of Nazareth was “the express image of the invisible God”--that God became a man--He was manifest in the flesh, it was like a light went on in his head. During our discussion he said that we had destroyed everything he believed, but admitted afterwards that it had been an interesting time. That was very encouraging. Even though I froze to the bone, it is well worth it when God gives light to even one sinner who is sitting in the dark shadow of death.