Yelling the Gospel

Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

It's important that a church leader, 

responsible for the affairs of God's house, 

be looked up to - not push, not short-tempered, 

not a drunk, not a bully, not money-hungry.

He{she} must welcome people, be helpful, wise,

fair, reverent, have a good grip on him{her}self,

and have a good grip on the Message...

Titus 1:7-9a [The Message]

Yesterday I decided to visit the Bronx Zoo - a delightful adventure (well, mostly delightful), especially the time spent on Tiger Mountain.  When my legs had finally had enough, I made my way to the subway, with the help of two police officers, and boarded the 2 to Manhattan.  

At the 108th Street station, two women entered the car and took up center positions facing each other.  The one closest to me began to speak - no, yell - in Spanish, every hollared phrase translated into English - yelled, of course, by the other woman.  They informed the passengers that they were sinners, terrible sinners, who turned to drugs, alcohol, women, sex, and power to bring joy to their miserable lives.  But these things would not bring happiness to them - only Jesus Christ could do that.  The Spanish-speaking woman had a plastic smile on her face - the English speaker was more serious, and a bit uncomfortable.

The style of preaching was unique and irritating.  The woman would make a statement, such as "You are in need of Christ," or "Your life is a cesspool of misery," and then she would ask, "Do you want to know why?  I said, "Do you know Why?  I'll tell you why...", each sentence, of course, repeated in the other language by her cohort.  They yelled back and forth, back and forth, all the way to 72nd Street, where they exited the car and ran to another train, another car, another audience.  They did not ask for money; they simply screamed their version of the Gospel message for 10 long minutes, then sprinted off to a new congregation.

I really wanted to turn to the woman closest to me and say, "This is not the way to spread the Gospel of Christ."  A sweeping glance of my fellow passenger's faces proved that.  Everyone could hear this duo, but no one was listening.  They simply shut down, turned up the Ipod, buried their heads further in their reading material, turned their backs, or conversed loudly with their friends/family.  "But the women planted a seed," you might say.  Not quite the seed she intended, I would counter. 

Living the Gospel is far preferable to bellowing it: smiling when your neighbor jostles/bumps you; apologizing when you do the same; giving up your seat to an elderly traveler - being a living example of what Christ would be if He were riding that train.  Indifference is the common code of the people riding the New York subway.  Simple, compassionate actions are unexpected in that atmosphere and speak far louder than any words .