Real Conversation at UNM: Sharpie

It was the second day of outreach at the University of New Mexico. I had been in conversation all morning, so I walked over to the Free Speech Board and sat down to read it. As I sat there, a young man walked up next to me.

"Have you written anything?" He asked.

"Not yet, but I was thinking about it," I responded.

He sat down next to me and fished a Sharpie out of his backpack. The boards have about half a dozen Sharpie markers tied to each side, but he handed me his own without a word. So I took it.

I wrote on the board a verse that had been in my head since the day before. A shortened version of 1 John 4:10 “This is love...that God first loved us." I handed his Sharpie back.

He read what I wrote and then wrote next to it, "There is no God, but there is Love."

After a moment, I asked him, "If there is no God, where does love come from?"

He considered this and said, "I don't know. I've never thought about that. Where do you think love comes from?"

I have never seen a more open door for the gospel. So I took it.

I told him about how God created the world and us and He loved us so much. But then we broke His law and He loved us so much that He came to earth and took the punishment for our sin for us so that we can live with Him forever.

He accepted this and we started to transition the conversation to the topic of abortion, but we were interrupted by another student.

"You're one of those crazy people who thinks the Bible informs every area of your life?!"

Almost everyone with JFA has a Colin* story from that day. He got around. In that moment, he stood between me and the sun, so I squinted up at him.

"Yeah, I am," I said, having no idea where he got that from, but happy that he brought it up while Sharpie guy was still around. "Have you read it?"

Colin’s confidence flared up. "No," he said, "Have you?!”

I grinned and responded, “Yes, three times.”

He then made a strange statement, “by reading and interpreting the Bible on your own, you’re going against the authority of the Pope!”

Confused, I simply answered, “I’m not Catholic.”

Colin’s attitude deflated instantly. “I know that having not read the Bible is my greatest weakness when talking about this."

"You should read it," I smiled, "It informs every area of life."

Sharpie guy had to leave then, so we said our goodbyes and Colin, now calm and respectful, dialogued with me for a little longer about God, the Bible, and how interpretation of those matters affects how we determine the morality of abortion.