March 3, 2006, in reply to my ‘ad’ on Craigslist directing people to an online article about the Christian message of Easter, I received this email.
Jesus is a myth, just like the Easter Bunny. Please stop posting your crap on Craigslist, you’re not getting my money.
That was the complete message…short and to the point. I had no earthly reason to expect that anything would come from replying to him, but I did anyway. My reply definitely could have been the end of the story or perhaps the start of a war. It wasn’t. In fact, the story is still being written. Here’s how I responded.
You’ll get no argument from me about your opinion of Jesus being a myth. Not because I agree with you but I accept your right to hold that opinion. I do have a question though. It’s hard for me to relate to your statement since as an adult, I’ve never doubted Christ’s existence so I was wondering…how did you reach your conclusion that Jesus was a mythical figure?
It took me almost 9 days to send that response, and his reply came back the same day.
Hello Scott, I appreciate your adult approach in this matter, most posters on Craiglist would be yelling or screaming. Since you’re not screaming, I’ll answer your question as best I can.
He posted a rather lengthy explanation of his spiritual background, which prompted questions in my mind. I asked if we might address some of those questions and he declined. After finding out we were about the same age, I switched gears and went in a different direction.
If we’re not going to continue our spiritual discussion (and I haven’t given up hope of that), how about I add you to my address book and fire off an email a couple of times a year to say hi? Who knows, we might become friends as we head into old age together.
I was pleasantly surprised by his answer.
We can chat/discuss some more, it won’t hurt anything, and I can always use another friend.
Twenty-five days had elapsed between “Jesus is a myth…stop posting your crap…” and “We can chat…I can always use another friend”. I think God must have been at work in my new ‘friends’ life; I know He was in mine.
What was my Christian message of Easter?
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Everyday Eisenman’s – Common Situations
You know, we’re not obligated to be angry when we return a product to the store or show our frustration and be abusive to the person waiting on us. But it’s more than that, according to Tom Eisenman. It’s about being loving and full of grace, and if you’re like me, there are times when I can’t even readily identify what an act of grace would look like it these types of encounters.
With the number of interactions we each have in a world that needs to see Christ’s love, it’s pretty obvious that we have many opportunities to be salt and light and love to a needy world. Are we?
What types of situations can you think of where Christians could be extraordinarily kind and understanding? Did you interact with the someone in the world recently who could have benefited by you having that attitude?
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