Is
being good, good enough?
By Doug Hunt
As a 19 year old, I moved to Washington D.C. to attend Georgetown
University. My sights were set on completing a degree in International
Economics at Georgetown’s prestigious School of Foreign Service. Little
did I know that God had in mind for me an encounter of a different kind,
an encounter with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
I guess you could say that I had been a “seeker” for some time. I
grew up attending church and never left behind that tradition, even into
my college years. Somehow, I knew there was truth to be found in the
church. But no one had presented me with the importance of a personal
relationship with Christ. I thought that what I needed was to be “good”
and that if I tried hard enough, I would get to heaven by virtue of my own
deeds. I excused my mistakes and my sin and worked hard at being
righteous. Of course, I always fell short of my own standard of goodness
and of God’s and that left me feeling discouraged and without
peace.
For some time, God had been stirring my soul and bringing persons
across my path who shared the importance of being “born again”. My
perception of what that meant and my reluctance to become “one of those
Jesus people” prevented me from accepting the truth the first few times
I heard it. Yet, God used each person who took the time and exercised the
boldness to present the Gospel to me. Like a planter preparing the soil to
sow seeds, my heart was being cultivated by God to receive the Truth of
the Gospel. I am so thankful that the Lord did not give up on me.
One day shortly after the semester began at Georgetown, I was eating
lunch alone. A fellow student, a stranger to me, sat down and we started
talking. It wasn’t long before our conversation turned to spiritual
things. He asked, “ Doug, if you were to die tonight, do you think you
would be allowed into heaven?” My response was very telling. “I think
so”, I said, “at least I am about 70% sure because I succeed at being
good about 70% of the time.” By my response, my new friend knew that my
security lay in works and not in faith. I’m sure he shared with me more
about the Gospel at that lunch meeting, but honestly I can’t remember.
What stuck with me that day was his genuine care and concern for me. He
didn’t condemn me nor try to convince me on the spot of the Truth.
Instead, he asked if we could get together again and continue the
discussion.
That encounter at lunch began a process of discovery that eventually
led to my receiving Christ. My friend’s name was Jim and he invited me
to attend an Intervarsity Christian Fellowship meeting that week at
Georgetown. I didn’t make the meeting that first week, but Jim persisted
and finally I joined him at one of their Thursday night sessions. My
encounter with believers who obviously had a genuine love for one another
convinced me that this group of Christians had something special that I
did not have. Their enthusiasm for and interest in Jesus was disarming and
strange at first. But their love for one another was so real that I knew I
wanted what they had.
Shortly after that first meeting, I was invited to attend a small group
Bible study. This sounded intriguing to me so I joined the group. That
first night, I sensed that my heart was in a different place than the rest
of the members of the study. I stayed behind after the rest of the
students had left and asked the leader if he could explain the confusion I
felt. Gently yet clearly, he guided me through a “Four Spiritual Laws”
booklet and I understood that Christ was not seated on the throne of my
heart and that I needed a personal relationship with the Savior. That
night I prayed and invited Jesus into my life. Jim and others involved
with the Intervarsity group at Georgetown nurtured my young faith and
helped me grow in my new relationship with Jesus.
That September encounter with Jim at lunch occurred 23 years ago. Jesus
has been my friend and my guide ever since. The boldness of one young
man and the witness of his love and concern toward me was a key to my
becoming a Christian. Jim offered to be my mentor and discipler that year
and invested himself in me. By the following Spring, when we all left
campus for the summer, my faith was firmly grounded. I was baptized at my
home church and I had the opportunity to share my new faith with my
pastor, family and friends.
That day at lunch, Jim took the risk to sit down and ask me a
spiritually sensitive question. For this I am eternally grateful. His
boldness and his trust in God for the fruit of his witness is an example
for me and for all of us.
by Doug Hunt
Used by permission. All rights reserved. Revised: 01 Apr 2005 12:52:35
-0600 . Copyright © 2004 All rights reserved.
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