Wesley worked at Big Cedar as a lifeguard. I struck up a conversation with him Sunday evening as the kids were swimming at the pool. He recently graduated from high school. He has an eight month old son. He's getting married soon. He wants to be an underwater welder and will be moving to Houston, Texas soon where he will start studying for that trade.
I asked him if he had a church background. He began to explain why he hated churches. We Christians can do so much damage. Wesley had been upset by a dispute with a pastor over a disagreement regarding some interpretation of scripture. I said that Christians should be free to allow each other to disagree over non-essentials of the faith -- things that don't affect your salvation -- but must be in agreement on the essential thing. I asked him if he knew what that one essential, core belief is that Christians must all agree upon. He didn't. What one must do in order to be saved, I answered. Do you know what Jesus said you must do in order to be saved, I asked Wesley. Believe in God and pray, he asked. Those things are good, I said, but Jesus taught that you must (1) repent and (2) believe that He is God who died in your place on the cross so you don't have to die for you sins, and who rose again the third day because He was innocent and is God. He confirmed that he believed all of these things. I explained what it meant to genuinely repent. He seemed to confirm that he understood and had done those things. I then explained what Jesus said to do in order to follow Him, and I encouraged Wesley to do those things.
We had a great conversation that night. Wesley really enjoyed that someone took the time to talk to him and take time to hear him out and learn about his life and views. I think that caused him to be more attentive to what I had to share. I pray those seeds sown into Wesley's life will bear fruit.
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