Between A Rock And A Sandy Place

D. is a girl that’s been coming to our Bible study since early summer. She’s a local, so she was able to continue attending during the summer break, and, as a result, has learned quite a bit about the Bible. As I was taught, I really believe that she, like all other true believers in Jesus, have a Spirit-given desire to serve God. She comes to the leaders meeting, etc. After almost every service, she tracks me down, asks me about words she doesn’t understand or concepts she doesn’t get. (For instance, tonight at the leaders meeting, she wanted to know if I really thought we can influence the Holy Spirit).  

I’ve mentioned her in the blog before, specifically that she has asked me about there being 144,000 Christians and why it was wrong for Christians to observe holidays. D. has told us before that she goes to some other Bible study led by some Koreans, but she always seems kind of guilty about it, like she’s afraid we’ll be angry about it or something. 

Well, it came out last night. She couldn’t hold out any longer. After the first service (she attended both) she asked me if I knew anything about the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I told her I knew a little and that I knew that she did, too. I told her that I figured that she had some friends that were J-Dub’s (as I like to disparagingly call them). Her eyes got really wide, and she couldn’t believe I knew. She wanted to know how… Not much of a secret – only one group of people in the world believe things as dumb as what they believe.  

Turns out, D.’s in a big dilemma. She wants to know what is right and what she should do. Apparently, the J-Dub’s (who turn out to be the Korean “Bible” study) give her a considerable amount of pressure (who would have guessed) about giving up our Bible study and taking up their Bible and beliefs.  So she has apparently not wanted to talk to me about it for some time, fearing that I would put the same pressure on her from the other side. 

So, she can’t figure out who in the world she should listen to. Their Bible says they’re right. Our Bible says we’re right. I told her to chill out and read both of them. Big surprise, since all this has started, she has completely stopped reading her Bible. She says she can’t figure out what to read. I told her that this was the second-to-worst plan (the worst of course being choosing the wrong Bible). I recommend the second-best plan – read both of them – only one is the real Word of God, and by study and prayer, the true God of the universe can reveal the best plan to her, and allow her to read the true Bible and believe in the true Way. Our God is real, and theirs isn’t, so why should I care? 

She couldn’t believe it. “That’s so cool,” she said over and over. She couldn’t believe that I wasn’t angry and that I was giving her permission to do that. But it’s not really that cool. I told her that she needs to make her decision quickly, as every day of toleration and acceptance of anti-Jesus doctrine is an insult to God Himself. Ugh – I forgot how disgusting it is to deal with false religion. Like a bunch of hyenas hovering nearby… I did my best not to give her too many arguments – she’s heard enough already – she just needs to read the Bible – but I told her to study the history of their Bible – if all five of the dudes that translated your Bible are from the same religion, and their translation doesn’t agree with anyone else’s translation, and happens to agree with their religion, it doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out what’s going on.  

Anyway, we had an eventful meeting tonight, which included the selection of the name of the church that, Lord willing, we will begin as soon as my language can stand on its own two feet. More tomorrow…