A couple of days ago I wrote about a language barrier to sharing the gospel--Spanish. I don't speak Spanish. Today, I faced a different kind of language barrier. After our daughter's soccer game, Shannon had to run into a store for a quick errand. My daughter went with her so I went to the adjacent Starbucks to get a latte. After placing my order, I saw a family sitting in a corner talking. I walked over to them, handed them some gospel tracts, and started a conversation. I asked them if they knew the answer to the million dollar question on the back of the tracts--will you go to heaven when you die.
The father, Leonard, asked where I go to church. Tulsa Bible Church, I answered. Where do you go, I asked. Kingdom Hall, he said. How long have you attended, I followed up. All my life, he said.
We talked for about 15 minutes. He used the same lingo for the most part, but he was so indoctrinated in the false teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses that it was virtually impossible to connect with him on any of the basic points of the gospel. He clearly clung to the traditional JW false teaching that one cannot know their eternal fate.
We had a very friendly conversation. Not confrontational at all. I sought to understand where he was at in regard to his understanding of the gospel. He would agree with my view of the gospel, but I could tell that it was on the surface only. I wish I would have had more time to lock onto the key points more clearly with him.
He was sincerely religious, like Cornelius in the book of Acts. And like Cornelius, he was sincerely lost in his religion. Hopefully, like Cornelius, he will see the light of the true gospel and trust the true Jesus Christ alone for his salvation.
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