I’m Good

The past few weeks I have been sharing Gideon New Testaments on college campuses throughout my state with my Gideon brothers. It’s been really great and this time I was able to engage with several students from different campuses. Most of my interactions have been much less stimulating.

The most frequent response I get from students, aside from being completely ignored, is, “No thanks, I’m good.” Though the person saying this to me is trying to at least politely refuse my offer. I really thought about this response and how I could use it as a springboard to pique their interest and even change the minds of some who refuse to think about it for a second and take one at least to see what was inside. So I tried some responses to try and start a conversation with those students.

“Are you sure?”

For a good amount I responded, “Are you sure?” to indicate if they’re really sure they didn’t want a New Testament. But this only solidified their response. Some would even get close to it and almost touch it; with the fear it would shock them or a large fake snake would pop out. I even told them to take one and read it for themselves. I showed them the helpful verses in the front, along with the table of contents.

“How do you know?”

Since that was’t getting the reaction I wanted, I started responding, “How do you know?” To which most had no idea what I was talking about, and ignored me even harder. Then I changed it a little and said, “How do you know you are good?”

Most of the responses I received were nothing back, others walked away faster, but you could tell that some it made them think, at least maybe question in their mind, what makes a person good? Though I had not one person respond positively from my response, maybe I shouldn’t stop using it. I would definitely use it though when passing out million-dollar-bill tracts, which are a springboard anyway to the, “Are you good enough to go to heaven?” Which led me to the last question…

“But are you good enough to go to heaven?”

I think this response got more of an eyebrow than the previous one, probably because it was more brazen and direct. Plus, it gave less room for error in its interpretation to the person I was talking to. This one made people stop in their tracts, and at least think for approximately 1.2 seconds.

I would use this response again for sure. If they answered, “Yes,” I would respond with the first question of, “How do you know?” It’s important to be direct with people to make sure that our message is clear.

Of course, I would love for someone to respond positively right there on the spot. But for those who did not take a New Testament I at least wanted to put a stone in their shoe and keep them up a little at night by the question in hopes they would ask a Christian friend they trust to follow up for me. I mean, it’s a team effort anyway, right?

Check out the video below to see how the 10 Commandments, God’s standard of goodness, is used to show people they are not right with God.