A couple weeks ago we went out to eat at a local restaurant where frankly we spend too much time. Kids eat free though - so it's a popular choice for us!

We were seated at a table, rather than a booth, which put us very close to the family of 6 sitting behind Jon and Dominic. It was a set of parents, a set of Grandparents, and their two children.

During the course of our meal, Jon got up to take a phone call, so of course I stayed at the table with the kids. The Grandfather at the adjacent table struck up a conversation. He was asking about the kids - general questions. Not a big deal. Jon returned to the table and the man kept asking questions - are we from the area. We answered yes, but didn't ask him in return -- we want to continue with our meal. He answered anyway, telling us he was from out of state. He was getting to the point of being annoying. He had his own table to converse with - why was he continuing to interrupt our meal. He was nice enough, to be certain, but he had crossed the "nice" line and was now in the "stop bugging us" category.

As we got up to leave, he stopped Jon and asked, "Can I give you my card?" Jon took it, and we walked out the door. I'm sure my face had a crazy look on it as we got to the lobby and I asked, "Why in the world would he randomly give you his card?" Jon had already put the card in his pocket and didn't dig it out to answer the question, instead simply saying, "I don't know."

Fast forward a day. Jon returned home from work and said, "You know that guy who gave me a card at the restaurant last night? It was a business evangelism card." Essentially the card said call me if you want to know Jesus. It wasn't a tract, but basically, it was.

We had a good laugh at it. Jon's presence can often be foreboding - he happened to be in jeans and a long-sleeved thermal t-shirt with "graffiti" type writing on it that day. It wasn't graffiti, but was likely interpreted as such. And Dominic had just been given a fresh mohawk (see photo below).

 


Apparently this gentleman looked at us and thought, "They need to know the Lord."

He was right - we DO need to know the Lord. But thankfully, we DO know the Lord.

The more I thought about that interaction, the more it really bothered me. He looked at our appearance and made assumptions. He struck up a conversation with us, but didn't get to the heart of the matter. Then based on assumptions, slipped his card into our hands and left the rest up to us.

Two things bothered me:

1) The assumptions he made couldn't have been more wrong -- yet how often do I do the same thing? How often do I judge a person based on how they look? And knowing this -- knowing that people judge based on appearances, I always try to present myself and my family in a positive light, reflecting God. But this man apparently didn't see that.

2) If you're going to share Jesus, share Jesus! He was bold enough to interrupt our meal and ask questions. He was even bold enough to offer his card. But if the purpose in doing all this was to spread the Gospel, then he totally missed the mark! Think about how much more blessed we ALL would have been if he'd have started a conversation about Jesus, and we ALL could have praised Him together. Now granted, I could have done the same -- brought Jesus into the conversation. But my point is -- his whole point in starting conversation was to give us his card. Why didn't he just tell us what he wanted to tell us, rather than beating around the bush?

What are your thoughts on "Business Evangelism?" Has anything similar ever happened to you?
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