"Could You Tell Me About Jesus, Just Briefly?"
Several summers ago I met a young man named Tok. Tok was a student at a local technical college and he and his friend Art were jogging by the local river where I too had gone out to run. We got to talking and the following day the three of us, together with my friend Doug, went out for a bite to eat. Doug and I prayed before our meal, which they had never seen before, and I mentioned spiritual things once or twice during dinner but Tok and Art didn’t seem interested. As dinner got over, and the bill was paid, I wasn’t sure if I would see them again or not so I asked Doug to dig a couple of Gospel tracts out of his bag and I gave them to Tok – one for him and one for Art who had already left. I told him it was about Jesus and the tract would give him some food for thought. He should take it home and read it and let me know if he had any questions.
Tok opened up the tract and looked over it for a moment and then look up at me and said, “Older brother, could you tell me about the life of Jesus, just briefly?” When is that last time someone has asked you that question? Maybe never. In the West, most people think they already know about Jesus so they don’t ask questions like this. But Tok genuinely didn’t know and was curious. So, starting with God and creation, I outlined for him the Biblical narrative up through the life of Jesus, his miracles, suffering, death and resurrection, heaven and hell, and so forth. As I told him the old, old story, just briefly, he’d add comments like, “Really?” and “That happened?” He wasn’t being facetious, but he honestly didn’t know. I saw Tok one other time after this and he didn’t show any signs of taking any more interest in the Gospel but I share his story as an example of the one of the millions of people in Thailand who have yet to hear the Gospel. Opportunities to tell people about Christ for the first time abound but who will take advantage of them?
