reckless passion » a world of trouble

So, yesterday afternoon at the end of the day, I was half-dreading seeing the woman in the gray van again, but instead I had an uneventful walk to my rental car in the parking lot.

When I got there, however, I found a couple of folded sheets of paper placed under the windshield wiper. They had several Bible verses printed on them, and the first sheet had a handwritten scrawled note on top :

“I’m sorry for being so rude yesterday.”

Whaaa….??

So, at least it’s a great thing that the woman was apologetic, and that she took the effort to FIND MY CAR and place the sheets under the wiper… I’m glad it was an apology, and not a slashed tire or apple pie or something…

But Bible verses??? I don’t know quite what to make of that! There are at least a couple dozen of them. The first sheet starts off with :

“SINCE I AM IN CHRIST BY THE GRACE OF GOD… I”

And then there are several verses that declare various implications of that statement, such as:

“COL 1:27 HAVE CHRIST HIMSELF IN ME (AND HE IS MY HOPE OF GLORY.)”
“COL 2:11 HAVE BEEN SPIRITULLY CIRCUMCISED. (MY OLD NATURE HAS BEEN REMOVED.)”
“1 COR 2:16 HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE MIND OF CHRIST”

and so on… I took a couple of pictures, and will post them later on… but, hey folks, some help here, what do I make of this??

[Update : Here are a couple of pictures]

Rachel Says:
August 25th, 2006 at 9:37 am

Cool that she apologized. Maybe she’s trying to demonstrate that she’s really apologetic and has actually been reading the Bible, like you suggested. Best-case.

Praying for her, too.

hari Says:
August 25th, 2006 at 11:09 am

Yeah! I’m hoping that’s the case too I figure, she’s using the language of her culture to communicate her apology, and that’s fine.

I wish she would read some of the more global verses in the Bible instead of just the individual-salvation verses, but, hey, at least she is apologizing instead of slashing my tires or calling Michael Chertoff…

Al Newman Says:
August 25th, 2006 at 3:39 pm

Just curious,,,
1.) Why are you an “ex-evangelist”. What turned you off about evangelism

2.) Why do you describe yourself as a “Jesus-seeker”, and not a “Christ-seeker”.
Jesus was the one who lived 2000 yrs. ago and became the Christ. And exhorted us to “follow him”, in other words become little christs.

hari Says:
August 25th, 2006 at 5:04 pm

Hi Al,

(1) What turned me off about evangelism - that’s a long journey Given that you are asking me right after my experience with a Bible-verse-delivery, I’d have to say that what turns me off about “evangelism” is the kind of narrow-minded, individualistic, self-righteous know-it-all hypocritical arrogance exhibited by conservative evangelicals who think they have God and man and nature all figured out in neat systematic doctrinal boxes. They have hijacked the term “evangelical”, and I do not want to be classified as such in my journey with God.

(2) I’d rather not be drawn into a hair-splitting exchange about the difference between “Jesus” and “Christ”. To me, the person and deity of Jesus are fascinating and I would much rather try and spend time with Jesus without worrying about whether I am seeking Jesus or the Christ. I’ve understood “Christ” to be more of a title, meaning “Messiah” or “Savior”, rather than an actual person. I’m much more taken by the actual person of Jesus, and I’d rather try and live like Jesus than try to be a little messiah.

I’m not denying any aspect of Christ’s divinity by viewing him as Jesus - I just find that constantly referring to him by his title instead of by his NAME gets in the way of humbly following him. Your mileage may vary

Plus I have had a few spiritual experiences in my journey that have proven to me that there is a lot more power and mystery in knowing JESUS than in knowing about the Christ.

Brian B. Says:
August 25th, 2006 at 7:45 pm

Wow! Quite a turnaround on the part of this woman, assuming that it’s the same person. It sounds like she’s repented of sin, which is something that we should always praise God for, as it is only by His work that that any of us could possibly repent. Also a cause for prayer, that we would demonstrate even a small fraction of the repentance that the Bible calls for from each one of us.

“Then Peter came and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’”–Matthew 18:21-22 (NASB)