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This is an encounter I had with a young lady named Lacey. She was sitting on a bench in Pismo when I asked here if I could talk to her about spiritual things. I knelt down and we had this conversation.
I know there are many of you that don’t have the time to listen to each encounter. In order for you to see how important it is to use the Ten Commandments when you evangelize, I am going to give you some quotes from Lacey.
Like Lacey, I to before God converted me, was extremely man-centered (selfish). I to had the, “hey, hey, it’s all about ME” attitude. Oh, I would use language to make someone think I was concerned for others, sensitive, and loving, but inside, it was all about me. Lacey’s statements are very revealing.
Allen: Why are you here? What’s your purpose for being on earth?
Lacey: “I’m here to learn. I’m here so my soul can gain the knowledge and information to be more perfect in the other world?”
Allen: What if I was to tell you that there was a Creator and He decided before the world was even formed that He would form and earth and a universe and place mankind here so that we could reflect who he is and that we would worship Him – how would you feel about that?
Lacey: “I think if there is a god, that it’s not about him it’s about us. If he made us perfect and he made us in his image, he didn’t make us to worship him. I don’t think that he wants us living our lives for him, he wants us living for ourselves and for our souls and to better us, not him.”
Lacey was indeed intense and feisty. You can hear it in her tone of voice. However, I believe it’s just her personality. In addition to being feisty, Lacey is very self-righteous. Here are a few of Lacey’s statements that queued me in on her self-righteousness and the need to stay in the realm of the conscience – pressing her with the Ten Commandments (Rom 7:7, Gal 3:24).
Lacey: “I’m here to live my life and do good as far as I see as good, I don’t hurt people, I lie and I steal but I don’t do it to hurt people.”
Lacey: “The majority of people on this planet are not very good people.”
Lacey: “I’ve found what works for me and what helps me be a good person everyday and that’s all that I need.”
Lacey also didn’t like the doctrine of Hell. Like an atheist, the one thing that throws them into a mad frenzy is the doctrine of eternal punishment. Why do you think that is?
If a criminal is convinced of his innocence – punishment is unreasonable to the max. To them the thought of throwing an innocent person into prison is highly offensive and wrong, and so it is.
However, if the person is guilty of breaking the law, they deserve punishment. Mankind – Allen, Lacey and the atheist alike have committed “cosmic treason” against a Holy God. We deserve His wrath, judgement, and Hell for eternity. Here are a few more of Lacey’s statements:
“…I don’t believe that if I’m a decent person inside, whether I’ve committed sins or not, I think that the overall soul of a person is what is gives. I don’t think I would go to hell.”
“I don’t think our god is evil. I don’t think our god is mean like that were he’s going to send us there.”
Don’t you see? Lacey’s greatest problem is that she sees herself as innocent or at least that she is “overall” good.
She didn’t like the courtroom analogy either. Why? Because it helps them understand justice and in conjunction with the Law, it makes punishment reasonable. I trust that even though Lacey resisted, the Holy Spirit will have His way with her conscience.
When a person like Lacey begins to feel the weight of their sin, they often will try to justify themselves as you have seen above. The other thing that they will try to do is set up the proverbial straw man; doing their best to dodge the real issue their sin. They want to take you down a rabbit-trail. Some of these arguments we should be prepared to address and others simply ignore. Here is a rabbit-trail that Lacey brought up that I purposefully didn’t address.
“Organized religion is very bad for our population.” Christian, you can go down that road and prove to the lost person why religion isn’t bad. But it will not help the individual you are speaking with understand their personal sin before God. It will not get them to a place where they see Jesus Christ paying the price for their sin and making the only way for them to be reconciled with their God.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t ever answer these types of questions. I think we should, if we recognize the question as legitimate and sincere – instead of something for the individual to hide behind, trying to dodge the real issue at hand.
Here is another rabbit-trail that a self-righteous person will try. “The Bible was written by man.” With Lacey, I did my best to address this issue. I didn’t do such a good job, but I felt I needed to try and knock that straw man down so she could see that she couldn’t hide there. Apologetics are awesome. I think Christians should spend some time leaning ways to defend our faith and to be ready to give people answers. But, I believe that next to prayer, the Law of God is our greatest weapon when we share our faith.
Please pray for Lacey. Pray that God would overcome her self-righteousness and help her see her need for our great God Jesus Christ.
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