You Tube Video Exposes “Caring for the Lost”
An interesting video was posted on You Tube on Monday, September 12 called “Caring for the Lost at Vanderbilt.” If you haven’t seen it yet, you may want to before you read the rest of this.
The video opens with a young family driving around the fraternity houses near Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
According to the narrator, they are looking for a place to preach the Gospel. While dad drives, mom describes the scene as they drive past party after party with swarms of college students and grounds littered with beer cans. It is obvious that she is worried about the students’ safety as well as their souls.
Her heart is clearly in the right place. But then it gets a little weird. She describes the students as “drunk with the wine of this world” and states that if parents are planning on sending their children to this university, that they should repent.
About two minutes into the video the mom uses a microphone to shout out to the students that “no drunkard will enter the kingdom of heaven – you must repent.”
As you can imagine, the students aren’t very impressed. Most ignore the couple, but a few engage in conversations, but not conversions. I was relieved to see that they actually did park the car to talk to the students, but every other word they said was “repent.” The message was correct but the delivery was terrible or so it appears.
At the end of the video, there is a link to a website, cheapmissiontrips.com. When I visited there today, there was no mention of this particular video, however other videos were posted there and they all seem to feature Tabitha Lovell, an International Travel Specialist.
By visiting the website, you can tell that she, and her husband Kevin, really love the Lord and really believe in missions. She and her company, MKI Group Travel, provide missionaries discount airfare. The site has tips on how to become a missionary, on traveling and testimonies.
They have a heart for reaching the lost and they are doing a huge service in helping missionaries go abroad affordably. However, I suspect that they have better success reaching the lost overseas than in their hometown.
The scenes on this video reminded me of a local town’s Fourth of July parade that I attended this year. Before the parade began, a small crowd set up microphones and speakers on the corner sidewalks to tell the crowd that they would be going to hell if they didn’t repent of their sins.
The group wasn’t obnoxious, but I don’t think anyone was moved by their actions either. In fact, a few people clapped when they finished because they wouldn’t have to hear them preach anymore. In contrast, another church group offered up their church grounds after the parade in celebration of the holiday. They gave out hot dogs and had “bounce houses” for children to jump around in.
No preaching was involved, just a fun and friendly atmosphere. I have no way of knowing for sure, but I suspect that the latter was more impactful in reaching others for Christ.
At the end of the video a verse is posted from Ezekiel 33:9: “Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked from his way, he shall die in his iniquity’ but you have delivered your soul.”
I guess the Lovell’s and others are doing that, and this isn’t to say that Christians should just stand and watch the world go to hell in a hand basket, but I think God had something better in mind than just dumping the truth and running away.
Another verse in the Bible says, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15) and that some “perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10) I wonder how many of those students “felt the love” as that couple drove by. How many are moved when they see the “Turn or Burn” bumper sticker on our cars? Is this is the good news?
So, what do you think? What’s the answer?
Originally here.
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