Just a Pamphlet

September 6, 2018

“We’ve gotta see this!” The two guys manning the cement truck sauntered over as I was checking the air in the tires of my bike. It’s called UDF—Ural Delay Factor—and I’ve gotten quite used to it over the years. There was a time I thought having one of the new Harleys with the springer forks and hardtail look would be just the ticket, but the other day as we were coming home from seeing my mother in Rochester, the place where we stopped for gas was hosting a bike rally with perhaps a couple hundred Harleys parked in the lot. They were all pretty much the same. No one has ever said that about my Ural. 

Just today, another biker gave me a thumbs-up, a guy at a stoplight hollered out his truck window, and a fellow coming out of Home Depot stopped to talk. If my Ural isn’t cool, at least it’s unusual. And that is enough. I’m not particularly garrulous, so when a guy stops to ask about it, I reach into the sidecar trunk and pull out a little pamphlet I had printed up, giving some basic information about the bike and its history, plus a little testimony of the Gospel with an invitation to contact me for more information or conversation. So far, no one has taken me up on that, but I’m not responsible for anyone’s response; only for my willingness to offer Christ. The two cement men received the pamphlets with a thank you, and as I drove away, I noticed they were reading them. 

There was a time in my life when I imagined it was my duty to bring people to Christ. I suppose in a sense it is; at least to let people know of the forgiveness and freedom available through him. But I used to think it was my responsibility to get people to “pray the prayer.” I love those times when someone is ready to receive Christ—it’s a holy privilege to pray with them and watch new life being born right before my eyes. However, I’ve learned over the years that just like picking an apple or a pear, if you force it before the person is ready, it never turns out well. Faith in Christ isn’t just a matter of mouthing the right words in a prayer; it is the result of the Holy Spirit moving in the mind and heart of the individual, opening their eyes to God’s love and making them want to know him. It may have been years ago that someone first planted a seed, another watered, and when the time is right, the harvest is ready. My prayer is that for some, that little pamphlet might be the first planting, for others, the harvest, and for still others, the invitation to the harvest of faith, forgiveness, and new life in Christ. And I am grateful for the opportunities I had today to be a part of God’s process.