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We are all familiar with this phone call.  It's the never ending maze that we have to find our way through just to get some information.  For me, this call ended up lasting about an hour and a half.  Not because I was on hold waiting for my call to be answered in the order it was received, but because I had the chance to share the gospel with the person on the other line.

I was pleasantly surprised when I spoke to Diondre.  He was cordial and helpful and actually seemed enthusiastic to give me the information that I needed.  I was sure he was a believer, and after complimenting him on his service, I asked.  He gave me the answer that I have been hearing more and more these days.  He respects all religions and all walks of life but has not come to any solid conclusions for himself.  I asked him if he was raised with any particular religion and he said that he was raised in the Christian church.  Upon asking him why he did not continue with his church he gave these three reasons:

1. The hypocrisy of the church
2. Authenticity of the bible
3. Christianity claiming to be the only way to heaven

The next hour gave me the occasion to demonstrate to him that we are all sinners and are continuously going through the process of sanctification.  The church naturally has the semblance of a group of hypocrites because we are all "works in progress".  Authenticity of the bible led to the mention of the Trinity and how the Holy Spirit works through us despite our human deficiencies.  God was able to work through the authors of the bible to bring us His word by His Spirit, the Spirit of God.  I addressed his final objection by explaining that religion is man's attempt at reaching God.  At its core, each religion requires its followers to do certain actions so that one may find a right standing with God.  They are all similar in that they require one to discipline themselves to achieve righteousness.  The bible teaches that we surrender ourselves to God by "confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).  Salvation comes not by what we do, but by what Jesus Christ has done for us, and by His power we become new creations (2 Corinthians 5:7).  It is something very different from a man-made religion, it is God's way that He provided for us to have a relationship with Him.  Even to those who have not had the opportunity to hear the gospel are being reached out to by God through His creation. 

By the end of the conversation there was no certainty that he was persuaded, but I did give him the challenge of reading the book of John on his own by sincerely asking God to reveal Himself through the pages.  He said he would read it but that he couldn't promise me that he would read it right away.  I told him that I would be praying and asking the Lord to send him another indication that it is He that is ultimately seeking to woe Diondre to Himself.  Diondre reassured me that if he saw another sign that he would be compelled to read. 

Lord, I pray that you would send another sign to Diondre to show him that You are seeking him.  Please give him that change of heart that can only come from You to seek You.  And may he find You in the pages or Your scripture.