I walk to school early every morning. It's a great time of day; the air is cool and the people are sparse. As I approached a busy intersection right on the edge of campus, I noticed a late middle-aged man dressed like a 50s CIA agent, just standing on the corner. One sees a lot of strange and wonderful things in this city. As I got closer, I noticed a stack of tiny, green leather-bound books under his arm.
"Free New Testament?" he asked as I passed.
I politely turned him down. The woman next to me took one, though. I noticed that he had 3 other agents with him, each on a different corner, each standing very early in the morning to hand out free Bibles.
I found this tremendously exciting. Causes are a dime a dozen in Seattle, particularly in the U-District. Throw a stone and you will likely hit some activist trying to get you to sign something for whatever reason. This bothers some people, but I like it. I think it's a sign of civic and individual health when volunteers will take time for something they believe in.
But these guys were the best yet. If most activists act like rally speakers, these Gideons were more like drug pushers. "Hey, kid, wanna hear about Jesus?" No glitz, no glam, and not a reference to abortion, gay marriage, or terrorism in sight. These guys were cool, but not "Cool"; late-middle aged white guys, unless their name ends in Ph.D., don't have a ton of cred on this campus, which is a shame. But these guys didn't care, they were out their anyway. And I loved it.
I'll be the first to admit that I struggle at times with the doctrine of Scripture. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe such amazing things about a book penned by human beings to human beings. But, at the end of the day, I believe that it is a message from God that changes peoples' lives. And so do those old white guys out on the street corner. And that doesn't require a loudspeaker or free frisbees or a political stump.
Posted by pjaussen at October 13, 2004 08:38 AMAwesome; I'm totally turned off to something if I feel like the purveyor is trying to sell it to me with gimmicks or bribes. Besides, does the Word of God really need (or deserve) flair to attract attention?
Posted by: gosey at October 13, 2004 09:39 AMHey Paul, I'm gonna be in Seattle with David Totten and Meg Martin a week from this Thursday.
Posted by: John Totten at October 16, 2004 09:19 PMJohn,
That's great that you are coming to Seattle! Give me a call when you get here. Do you have a place to stay? What date is that, exactly?
We do not have a place to stay, a floor, if possible, would be greatly greatly appreciated. We will be there the evening of the 29th. I've been trying to call the music dept. recruiters about a visit but they don't return my phone calls.
Posted by: John Totten at October 18, 2004 04:16 PMYou are more than welcome to stay with us, our floor is a bit on the small side, but I bet we could come up with something. How long will you be here? I could show you around campus and take you wherever you need to go . . .
Posted by: paul at October 19, 2004 07:54 AMIt was great to see, gose. And your absolutely right; it seems like replacing the Holy Spirit with some sort of bait and switch is laughable.
Posted by: paul at October 19, 2004 07:58 AMWe were plannin on being there late Thursday night, through Saturday morning. If that's okay with you.
Posted by: John Totten at October 20, 2004 01:36 PMPaul i do not know if you have been informed, but Jackson and Grace are proud parents as of the 19th. Just letting you know buddy
Posted by: Jonathan Huffine at October 20, 2004 06:09 PMSounds great, totten . . . give me a call.
Posted by: paul at October 21, 2004 11:49 AM