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 This
is a true story, so far as I can reconstruct it from memory,
with specifics changed only to make the account impersonal. It
is taking place in one of our large cities, where “hippies”
abound.
A
preacher made contact with a young couple, living “common-law”
and enjoying (?) the freedoms (?) of this permissive age. They
had no real aim in life, and no guide-lines for self-
improvement or the building of character. They saw their friends
ever seeking, never finding a meaning for life in drugs and
dissipation. There was no hope, for there was no faith for its
foundation; and “religion” had long ago been abandoned as
organized irrelevance, shot through with hypocrisy. But they
allowed the “sky man” to talk, out of sheer boredom.
Now
this preacher was untrained in social studies. He had little
formal education, and had not “read up” on the psychology of
modern youth. He preached for a church which organized no “youth
Movements,” had no “social hall,” and thought the gospel
of Christ, not pop-music parties, was the power of God unto
salvation. All this out-of-date preacher knew to do for the “hippies”
was to love them for Jesus’ sake, and point them to the Lord
for the remission of their sins — and he called them “sins”
too!
But
something in his sincerity and the obvious rightness of his
appeal touched them. He set before them the Bible —
authoritative — commending itself by its very message. He
showed them the unselfishness of God’s love and pled with them
to change their heart, life and state. They obtained a New
Testament, and studied it.
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Soon
they admitted their sinful condition, and showed a desire to
correct their misspent life. They assured the preacher their
love for one-another was genuine, so he urged them to marry. A
quiet ceremony followed. A few weeks later they were baptized.
The
“withdrawal” from unkempt hair and beard, extreme make-up,
mini-mini skirts, etc., was slow — but members of the church
were tactfully patient and understanding. And as former
associates of this couple began to see the change in their life
— the new hope, and radiant faith — they began to ask
questions. “How did you do it?” and “Could we escape too?”
While
I was there for a meeting the preacher asked me, almost
apologetically, if I would be “hurt” if he missed a service.
It seems five or six others, in like circumstances, had asked
him to come and talk with them. I said I would be very
disappointed if he failed to go.
Several
couples have now been converted to Christ, and Their efforts
have expanded the “contacts” for more of the same. There is
no publicity given — no spectacular announcements made. There
have been, and will continue to be failures. But I will not
forget the gratitude of those faithful ones; how they listened
to sermons and hungered for more.
I
wish more of my brethren were converted “hippies,” or
converted preachers, or converted anything!!!
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