A young European on holiday

Myself and two friends were walking on one of the famous five day hiking trips in the south island of New Zealand. It was very hot weather and in the afternoon we came upon a young guy standing on the top of a hill with an empty water bottle.

I asked, “Have you run out of water?”

He had and I was able to give him some more. He continued walking along the track with us. He was having a break from study before going home to Europe to start university.

After chatting for a while, he discovered I was a storyteller. When he heard they were Bible stories he said, “Oh, I’m a Christian, I’m a youth group leader.” Mentally I switched into, ‘I’ll still share a story because I want him to learn about this method of communication so he can use it at home.’ I told him the Plague of Hail story. Afterwards we had a good discussion. However, I began to wonder if he truly knew Jesus rather than simply knowing about him. So I asked, “Do you lead youth group because you enjoy it or because you’re a follower of Jesus?” He replied, “I consider myself a very religious person.” That answer suggested he wasn’t clear about why Jesus came and so I decided to check by using another diagnostic question. I said, “I’m going to ask you a question that might seem strange but I’ll explain later why I asked it. If you died tonight and Jesus said, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’, what would you say?”

This question obviously was difficult for him. After thinking for a long time he eventually answered, “I’ve always tried to live by my conscience.”

I said, “My answer would have been very different. I would have said, ‘I don’t deserve to go into your heaven, but Jesus died for me and I’ve accepted that death on my behalf. I’m relying on Jesus to allow me entry.”

He was somewhat confused by this and so I asked, “Can I tell you some stories that might help you understand?” First I told the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Then we went to the Thief on the Cross. We discussed why he was saved and what he ‘did’ (admitted he wasn’t worthy, recognized who Jesus was, didn’t even ask for salvation but Jesus gave it to him). This was a young man who knew most of the Bible stories but needed to think through them in a different way. We then went back to the Passover story and Day of Atonement, and then back to the Crucifixion so he could work out the implications. He was excited as things began to fall into place.

At the end he said, “You’ve certainly given me a lot to think about. I hadn’t heard the Bible explained like this.” Then he said, “I’ve been praying a lot lately and asking God to help me understand more – I think he has just answered my prayer!”