'Big Bang' Believer Backslides

I spent Saturday afternoon at the Huntington Beach Pier, with three of my local GNN team members (my daughter Michelle, Chris, and Matt). We joined Ray Comfort, Scotty, and Anita for OA, one-to-ones, and tract distribution. The crowds were small, but the hecklers were good, which kept the crowds engaged.

At one point, Ray used a great analogy to point out how one heckler saw herself as good, when comparing herself to the rest of the world. Ray said (and I'm paraphrasing), "Look around you. You can see smog in the air, over all of the cities surrounding Huntington Beach. But if you look straight up, the sky appears a beautiful, clear blue. You can't see any smog in Huntington Beach.

"But if you were in a plane, looking down at Huntington Beach from thousands of feet in the air, you would see that Huntington Beach is shrouded with smog, just like every other nearby city. You see yourself as good because you are comparing yourself to the people around you. You see their sin, but you are oblivious to your own. Instead of comparing yourself to others, you should see your sin the way God on high sees your sin. He looks down and sees that your sin is every bit as dirty as everyone else's, just like the air in Huntington Beach is as dirty as the air in the cities surrounding Huntington Beach."

After Ray and the WOTM team left, we stuck around to hand out tracks and strike up conversations. I gave "A Gift For You" tracts (the tracts in which you place a real dollar bill) to three teenagers. They gladly took the tracts. But within moments they walked to a nearby trashcan, tossed the tracts and pocketed the money. I confess that my first thought was, "Why, you little brats!"

A short time later, Michelle and I were walking along the pier when Michelle saw the same group of three teens. She tried to hand them "Smart Card" tracts. The three were caught off guard when I said, "That's okay, Michelle. They threw away the tracts I gave them a few minutes ago."

All three kids had that hand-caught-in-the-cookie-jar look on their faces.

I asked one of the kids (a 13-year-old named Dane) why he threw the tract in the trash. He said, "Well...I didn't want to carry it around all day."

"Did you bother to read it?" I asked.

"It had something to do with God." He answered.

"Dane, do you believe in God?" I asked.

"Nope." He said.

"So, would you consider yourself to be an atheist?" I asked.

"Yep." He said, with a sarcastic, confident grin on his face.

"Are you aware that in order to be an atheist, in order to truly believe there is no God, you must know everything there is to know about everything? I asked. "You would have to have perfect knowledge about the entire universe. Do you know everything about everything?"

"No." He answered.

"Think of it this way." I continued. "In order to believe that Australia exists, do I have to know everything there is to know about Australia? Would I have to talk to every person who has ever lived in Australia, or everyone who has ever visited Australia to believe that Australia exists? Would I have to walk every square inch of Australian soil, look under every rock, or swim in every lake and river to believe that Australia exists?"

"No." He answered.

"Would I even have to visit Australia to know that Australia exists?" I asked.

"No." He answered.

"All I would need is some evidence to believe that Australia exists, right?"

"I guess so." He said. It was fun watching his young atheism evaporate.

"Okay, now that we've determined that you don't know everything, I can prove to you in less than two minutes that God exists." I said.

"Okay." He said.

I pointed to a small gift shop on the pier. "How do you know that someone built that building?" I asked.

"Well, it didn't just happen out of thin air. It's there, so someone had to have built it." He said.

"How about a painting? Have you ever seen a beautiful painting?" I asked.

"Yes." He answered.

"When you look at a painting, how do you know someone painted it?" I asked.

"Because the painting is there, and someone probably signed it." He answered.

"Dane, all you have to do is look around you to see that God is real. Right now, you are standing on a pier overlooking a beautiful beach and ocean. All you have to do is look at this amazing creation to believe that there is a Creator. Does that make sense?" I asked.

"Yes it does." He answered.

"Okay Dane, now that we've established that you don't know everything and you have to at least concede the possibility of God's existence," I said, "let me ask you another question. Do you believe in the Big Bang Theory?"

"Yes." He answered.

"All right. Listen to how unreasonable your belief is." I said. "You believe that something exploded out of nothing, and became everything. Does that make any sense to you?"

"Well...." He said.

"Do you remember watching the planes fly into the World Trade Center buildings?" I asked.

"Yes." He answered.

"Did those massive explosions create life?" I asked.

"Well, no." He answered.

"You're right." I said. "They didn't create life. They only destroyed life. The only thing created by an explosion is chaos and disorder. When you look at the world around you, you don't see disorder. You see very sophisticated design.

"Just think of your eye, for example. What your eye is able to do in a split second, the most sophisticated and powerful computer in the world cannot do. Can you see, now, how creation points to the very real existence of a Creator?" I asked.

"Yes." He answered.

"So, now that you realize that you don't know everything, and now that you realize that creation requires a Creator, let me ask you this. Would you consider yourself to be a good person?" I asked.

Dane, the sarcastic boy who had carelessly threw the tract in the trash and had smugly professed to be an atheist who believed in the "Big Band Theory," was now being humbled by the Law. The goofy, even disrespectful grin on his face was replaced with a look of concern.

After taking Dane through the Law and the Gospel, I asked him to carefully consider what I had shared with him. He said that he would. Then he said this.

"Well, one thing is for sure. I don't believe in the 'Big Bang' any more.

I handed Dane a Million Dollar Bill. "Here." I said. "Don’t throw this one away. Read it carefully."

We shook hands and said our goodbyes. Dane started to read it as soon as Michelle and I walked away. What a joy to watch a "Big Bang" believer backslide. Pray with me that the Lord will draw Dane to repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

As always, to Him be the glory!