Strength Made Perfect in Weakness I
(Note: This is Part 1 of a two-part post, and both posts are part of my “Evangelical at BYU” series. How this one fits into the latter series will become apparent in Part 2.)
I penned this journal entry on Friday, March 28, 2003, but it refers to an incident that happened on an airplane on Friday, January 3, 2003. This was during my junior year (fifth semester) of undergrad at BYU. I was 20 when it happened, 21 when I finally wrote about it in my journal.
I didn’t mention this in my Friday, January 3rd entry—perhaps it hadn’t happened yet, or perhaps I was too ashamed. But when I was on the plane, I was sitting next to two guys about my age. I could tell from the way they swore like sailors that they probably weren’t Christians. And I forget what we were talking about, but the one on my left said, “I just wanna know, what’s life all about? What’s it all about?” And I remember God whispering to me, “Tell him!” And the answer is simple: life is all about knowing God and making God known.But I was afraid. I suddenly became very interested in my in-flight magazine. And I disobeyed, and I didn’t say anything to him [about my faith] throughout the entire flight.That look in his eyes—that searching, thirsty, help me look—will haunt me for the rest of my life. I can only hope and pray that God will reach him through someone more faithful than me.
You know that evangel- part in the word “evangelical”? The same root is found in the wordevangelize. Shocking, I know! It means we’re supposed to share our faith with people at every chance we get. Here I was on a plane with a guy who was pretty much stuck listening to whatever I had to say for the next two hours—oh, the things I could say to someone who was stuck listening to me for two hours!—and he practically asked me to share my faith with him. But I didn’t. I was too afraid.
Matthew 10:33 – [B]ut whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. (NRSV)
2 Timothy 2:12 – [I]f we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us. (NRSV)
And Jack went back to her dorm room at Heritage Halls on the Brigham Young University campus and wept bitterly.
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Strength Made Perfect in Weakness I — 3 Comments