Thursday, 23 April 2009

• I Ran Into God in a Bar Last Night

  I go bar hopping. I do it about every weekend. I don't drink much. I am not into getting drunk, but I love going out.

  When I go out, I go with my younger brother and his friends. Sometimes, my other roommates (I live in a house with 4 other guys) come and hang out too.

  I guess you can say that I like being around loud, drunk people. I mean, I've grown up with it... My dad used to be a really big drinker. He's cut down a lot and I am proud of him, but it wasn't just him... it was my entire extended family. They are all loud drinkers. We are Irish.

  So, I go out, not to drink, but to be around people who are having, what seems like to them, a good time. Sometimes, I strike up a conversation with people. These conversations always vary in topic, but it all ends with me sharing something about my faith in Christ.
  

  You would be surprised to see how many people actually talk to me about God. Sure, some just smile and nod and say something like, "If that works for you, great!", but every night I am out, there is always one or two people I talk to that say, "I need to get my life together and start going to church" (whatever that means) or something similar.

  Last night was a great example. I talked to an old friend I hadn't seen in quiet a while. I don't remember what exactly started our conversation about Christ, but I do know that my friend looked at me with tears in his eyes. He told me how good of friends we used to be and how he was my brother's best friend, and how he started getting into a lot of bad stuff, but he didn't want my brother to get involved in any of it because he had such a great future ahead of himself (my brother is an all-star athlete, great at all sports... except bowling). And how he slowly backed himself out of a friendship with my brother because he didn't want him to go down the same path he had already started.

  He then said that all things happen for a purpose though. He went on to explain how he had a best friend die in a car accident, 5 minutes after snorting coke with him. Then he looked up at me and said, "Do you know what that was? That was a wake-up call. That was God telling me that if I keep going down this road, I will end up in a casket, just like my friend. That was God saying, 'Get it together. I've given you everything. You're life is a gift, and I will take it all away if you don't start acting like it.'"

  He told me how he believes in God, and always has, but never grew up in Christian family. He envied mine. My family... the loud drunks, he envied because we actually sat at the dinner table as a family. We would talk, as a family. We would go to church every Sunday, as a family. He told me he envied that. Sure, my family has problems, but he looked passed them and actually saw the face of God. That is beautiful.

  He wasn't the only person I talked to either.

  One of the guys I went to the bars with was an old acquaintance from high school. I never really considered him a friend, but we totally got along, and he was cool. But I hang out with him on the weekends now.

  My brother was talking with him, and I was standing right there. Craig (not my brother, but the other guy) said, "Come on Kel (my brother), let's get some ladies. Are you coming, Jimmy (me)?"

  "No, Jimmy isn't here to get girls," Kel said.

  "Why not?" asked Craig.

  "Jimmy has morals," Kel replied.

  Craig responded, "Ok. Whatever."

  My brother started walking out. Craig started to and stopped. He turned to me and said, "Why are you like that?"

  "Like what?"

  "Why don't you go with us to pick up some ladies."

  "That's not what I'm about. Craig."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I came out here to hang out and have a good time without indulging. Indulgence can be bad."

  "So you don't want to indulge in the ladies, when you know you could do so easily?" Craig asked me.

  "I try not to indulge in anything that brings a temporary gratification. I believe that anything worthy of indulgence is meant to be eternal."

  And this is where the roots began to show...

  Craig asked me, "So what about this girl I like? I want to be with her so bad, but she doesn't want to be with me. We still talk and everything, and it just kills me that she doesn't want to be with me. I want to forget about her."

  "I had the same problem, Craig" I explained. "I know what you are feeling."

  "Yeah, but I was with her for 9 months... and she just broke up with me."

  "Try 5 years, Craig." (I wasn't trying to one up him or anything. I just wanted him to see that I know heartbreak too.)

  "Do you still talk to her?" Craig asked.

  "Yeah," I said, "She is one of my best friends."

  "Well, how do you get over it?"

  "I prayed, Craig. I still pray. It isn't easy, but you get over it, but you have to want to get over it. And your prayers have to be sincere. It is easy to move from girl to girl, but doing that won't fix anything... because when you are with those girls, you are only thinking about that one that you want to be with. I say, take time away from girls. Give yourself a break, and just hang out."

  Craig replied, "Ok, but what about your morals? How do you stick to your guns?"

  "I'm not perfect, Craig," I explained. "I do stupid stuff all the time, but I get serious. I remember why I am trying to obey and who I am trying to obey... and when you have found something so whole, so pure, so right, so amazing, you want to do all you can to preserve that. That is why I stick to my morals. That is why I choose to obey God."

  Craig responded, "I have a lot to think about, Jimmy."

  I didn't see him for the rest of the night.

  And this is why I go bar-hopping. I am a minister... and I try to be in all that I do. One thing that is easy to remember, but harder to practice, is that Jesus went out to the people. He went to the sinners. He went to the sick... it wasn't until later that people started coming to him because they realized who he was,  and they heard the about the things he could do.

  Maybe that is what we have to do. We have to make our presence in the world so that people will then, go to Christ.
  

  Last night was beautiful. Even being around a bunch of loud drinkers, I saw God's face through the fog.
  

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