Salvation Summaries

In my line of work, I periodically travel to certain cities on the east coast and use this time to witness to taxi drivers to and from the airport, but on this particular trip my opportunity was a 90 minute train ride from Chicago to Milwaukee.

I sat next to an overweight black man with a cane and who appeared to be in his 60’s. We struck up a conversation and I soon learned that he had been a musician all of his life, playing bass guitar on the streets in various towns and with a few bands.  He recently had the opportunity to play at a church with an African missionary who was seeking to raise support to build homes and hospitals in Africa.  Upon hearing this, I decided to ask about his spiritual condition with a goal of “sharing the good news” with him.

Over the next hour, we had an engaging conversation about a variety of Christian topics, including the hypocrisy of some Christians, a pastor who tried to convert him, my conversion experience, etc. It was clear that he knew enough of the gospel to become a believer (I also shared with him a few salvation-related verses from the Bible app on my phone, including John 3:16 and Matthew 10:37-39), but something held him back.  When I pressed him on this issue, he offered a couple of reasons, but the main one seemed to be his unwillingness to give up certain sinful habits.

At the end of the train ride, we thanked each other for the conversation, and he said he’d give more thought to what we talked about.  I sincerely believe he will, but similar encounters with other believers will likely be needed before he becomes willing to repent and believe.

I’m thankful God gave me the opportunity to witness, even if this particular “song” ended on a flat note.