Truth in the Midst of a Windstorm

So today I witnessed something profound.  Something that on any other day would be…normal.  I was sitting in the food court at a college university in Alabama and listening to the hustling, the laughter, the talking; the lives of college students my age go on around me.  And on a little stage in the back of the room were a handful of people singing praises to God and sharing the truth of His word.  As the songs played and testimonies were shared, I couldn’t help but look around and wonder if anyone was listening.  I know my generation.  We are a demanding generation that has the attention span of about 10 seconds.  Doubt that?  Watch someone try to load something on their phone and if it takes longer than a few seconds, they’ll start muttering under their breath.  If it takes a few minutes, you may hear some impatient sighs accompanied by a glare of frustration.  This is the audience that I watched this group of Christians try to reach out to and speak to. 

I remember my thoughts of frustration as I looked around and tried to find someone…anyone…who was singing along.  Who was even looking in the direction of the stage!  The amount of people I saw I can count on one hand.  I observed as everyone else ignored the people on the stage, acting as if there was nobody there.  I also saw others who would look up to see what the disturbance was, saw it was a bunch of Christians “preaching and singing” and went back to their conversations, glancing up every few minutes with a look of annoyance.

As I sat quietly, I watched people my age come and go.  I heard truth, glorious and healing truth, being spoken in the background.  I heard of the great salvation that God brings and His devotion towards us in setting a plan in motion to rescue us from our rebellion.  I listened as the Gospel was shared and praises were sung to Jesus.  And I watched as the people around me went about their lives.  Most never looked up.  Most heard the “Jesus thing” as background noise that could be ignored.  Some may not have heard or even noticed the stage at all, being so consumed with what they thought was important in that moment. 

Today I watched and listened as truth was proclaimed in the midst of a windstorm.  I watched as believers were faithful to their calling in that moment and the truth fell on many deaf ears.  The great thing is that I know the effort was not wasted.  I know that God used that for something.  Somebody heard something that they needed to hear.  A believer was encouraged, someone with no grasp of Christianity was exposed to the Gospel and a seed was planted.  God’s word never comes back void, so I know that the words spoken today had some impact.  At the very least, what I observed impacted me.  So do not hear me say that today was a failure or a waste of time. 

But do hear me say this: Truth must be defended.  It must be proclaimed and it must be shared.  Christians today are at war with the culture in defining Truth.  What I observed today reminded me of the lostness of my own generation.  Of the distractions that we feed ourselves.  We are short-tempered, self-focused, and impatient.  We are losing our hearts and our lives to a culture that has every intention to destroy us.  We put our faith in shallow and meaningless things and then wonder why they collapse under us and leave us miserable and wanting more.  My generation needs Jesus. 

As I watched all of this happen today, I felt heart-broken at how out of focus we are as people.  I remember the deep regret at how many people had the Truth that could change everything about them and their lives proclaimed to them…and how many of them never heard it?  Never looked up?  I feel a great burden to reach my peers.  The level of hopelessness and confusion in society today should be answered by the Church.  Are we doing all that we can to make the Lord known?  I am not and I feel a heaviness on my shoulders because of it.

Truth yelled into the wind may still be heard.  It is a difficult calling and it tends to be an uphill battle….but it is never a losing battle.  What are we willing to do to show people that Jesus saves?