Conversation with a Satanist

So today I went out with a group of Biolans to do evangelism at La Mirada High School. It was incredible.

I've done evangelism before, but it's pretty much exclusively in foreign countries as part of missions trips. This time, we went into the twilight zone -- a.k.a. a public high school.

I was blown away. I subconsciously expect that every kid has already heard -- and rejected -- the gospel of Jesus Christ. Fear has conditioned me to believe that America is "closed" to the message of salvation, and high school students most of all.

But today, I had the chance to talk for a good half hour with 3 practicing Satanists. When three friends and I approached them as they waited for the bus, they were perusing the Satanic Bible and a volume explaining Satanic rituals. I'll admit -- it was a little scary. But over the course of the conversation, we got to dialogue with them about all their hard questions, from "How does Jesus' death forgive everyone?" and "Why did God give us the free will to reject him?" to "Who created God?"

I could see it in Veronica and Michael's eyes -- they were listening. They were hearing this stuff for the first time, and by the end of our talk, their staunch Satanism was wavering.

Before they had to catch the bus, Bethany gave our new friend Veronica her cell phone number and asked her to call if she wanted to continue the conversation. Veronica took the number and said something that shocked me:

"I've been waiting to talk about this kind of stuff," she said, "but I didn't have anyone to talk to."
It struck me. People typically aren't hostile to this message of hope -- even if they're wearing a pentagram and worshipping Lucifer. There are just barriers that keep them from putting their faith in Christ, and nobody has told them the good news that those barriers have been defeated by Jesus Christ.

The real problem at America's public schools isn't student resistance. It's Christian hesitance. The verse rang truer in my head today than ever: "How can they believe unless they hear? And how can they hear unless they are sent?"

The fields of student hearts are white with harvest. Yes, the harvest is plentiful.

But the workers, still, are few.