I was looking for a place to do some photos, and as we pulled up to this parking lot, I noticed a few guys rolling up on their bikes. The guy I was with said, let’s just sit in the car for a little bit because they could be little thugs looking to break in and steal all your stuff. They passed by and went down this little walkway and started to hang out. We decided to go down the same way and continued to the beach where we would hopefully find a place to shoot. As we walked by we acknowledge these guys and quickly kept walking.
After about 30 minutes later, we couldn’t find a place so we decided to head back to the car and continue our search. The guy I was with walked right passed them, but as I was walking I felt like God was saying talk to them and share the gospel. ” What God? That can’t be. If I say the wrong thing they are going to jump me and take my gear. There is five of them and two of us.”
Right when I felt the Spirit tug, I looked up and saw that one of the guys was wearing an LA Lakers shirt. BOOM! That was my in… Thanks God for making this easier! Not sure how all this was going to go down, but I asked the guy, “So are you a Lakers fan?” He said “Yeah, Hard out,” and then passed his joint over to the next guy. I threw in some of my Kiwi lingo and said “Sweet as, I am from LA.” And for some reason they got super excited as if I was some sort of celebrity or something. So we continued to do some small talk to build a quick relationship with these 5 guys I have never met before. And as I was praying for an opening to bring it to a spiritual conversation to share the gospel, one of the guys asked me what I do. Thanks again God for opening that door. “I am a Pastor.”
They said “No way! That is mean! I knew there was something about you!”
Not wanting to stop there, I asked them a question that would get them thinking and open up their minds to what I was about to say next.
“If you died right now, would you go to Heaven or Hell?”
Immediately they all just stopped and really thought about this. They didn’t know what to say. So I continued to break down the entire gospel and as I was talking, I have never seen guys listening so attentively. They were getting it and not only that, they were excited about what Jesus did. This went on for about 15 minutes and at the end they all wanted Jesus. I normally don’t lead people in a sinners prayer unless they really want to make that decision for Christ. I felt like all of them were ready, so I asked them if they wanted to pray. All five closed their eyes and prayed. And at the end they thanked me for explaining the gospel to them.
Many times we can look at people and judge them according to their outward appearance and hold back from sharing the gospel to a person who really needs it because we are scared. But it’s also the thugs and the outcasts that Jesus died for. They are no different than you and I, and need Jesus just as much. I hope you will be encouraged to set aside your pride, fear, and selfishness and bring life to a world that needs to hear the Gospel. It might be scary, but their salvation is more important than our fear!
Please pray for these guys, that God would continue to work in their hearts and use them for His kingdom.
