Too Negative and Judgmental?

Tracy gave out some MDBs on our way to our meeting place in Old Town Fort Collins on last Friday night. She was able to give away about 20 or so just as we walked from our car to the square a few blocks away. She gave some to a group of youths as we passed by them. One asked if it was pro or anti Obama. She said, "Neither." We continued walking and after a block or so the same teenager came running after us and wanted to give the Obama Million back saying that he "totally disagreed with the message". We did not want to get to our meeting place too late so she accepted it back without asking him any questions. When we reached our destination in the square she said that she wished she had tried to engage him in conversation. We prayed that God would give us another chance if possible to talk to him. About that time some other members of our team (Caleb and Bekah) were passing along the same route that we had just taken. As they passed by this same group of teens they observed them reading out loud in kind of mocking tones the tracts Tracy had given them a few minutes before. They decided to stop and ended up having about an hour long discussion with them, starting with Heaven and Hell, going to Evolution to Science plus several other subjects. All along they were taking opportunities to intermingle the Law and the Gospel into the conversation which of course began because Tracy gave them a Law and Gospel tract. In the end they were able to biblically evangelize the whole group and left without any overt animosity on either side. Bekah said that they even thanked them for talking to them. Meanwhile unbeknownst to any of us, one of the people in the group was evidently something of an undercover Christian. During the encounter he tried to stop the discussion several times saying to them something like, "This needs to stop". He obviously felt that the witnessing encounter was not being handled properly by our team members. Fortunately they were able to overcome his objections and continue talking to the group of youth. Later he tracked me down and inquired about our team's church affiliation and so forth. He seemed to me to be visibly upset or moved by the experience of seeing our team member's interaction with his friends. I asked him what he thought about it. He said that it turned out well in the end and wanted me to convey his appreciation to Caleb and Bekah. But he said in the beginning he thought they were being too negative and judgmental. I tried to explain to him that we intentionally used the law to bring the knowledge of sin so that those we spoke to would have some basis for understanding the Gospel. I asked how he shared his faith. He said he had headed up several different clubs at his school that evidently were designed to create relationships with unbelievers that could eventually lead to some of them being converted. I pray that what he saw on Friday night will continue to impact his thinking and encourage him (if he is born again) to evangelize biblically. If not we pray that he will repent and believe. Monday, September 21st 2009