Conversations With a Spiritist - Part II

Last time I shared with you some of the beliefs of a sweet little old lady I met in an airport who was a spiritist, i.e. someone who communicated with spirits. I questioned her on how she knew about spiritual truths, and her knowledge was based on her own relativistic opinion rather than the objective authority of Jesus Christ as revealed to us in Scripture. She mentioned a couple times about “the light of Christ” and its importance in discerning spiritual truth, but she could not explain this concept as anything more than just recognizing that Jesus was some really enlightened spiritual guy. Her view of Jesus was a typical New Age one – that Jesus realized His divinity and showed us how we could all become like God. When I responded that her view of Jesus differs from what is given to us in the Bible, she quickly pointed out that the Bible has been altered many times over the centuries and it cannot be trusted. When I told her about the solid textual evidence of the Bible’s authenticity and how we can be sure that what we have today is what the authors really wrote in the first century, she fell back on her relativistic “inner knowing” that told her the Bible was wrong.

As our boarding time was approaching I sensed a pause in our conversation and an opportunity to share the Gospel. I asked her why Jesus came to Earth. In line with what she already shared, she said that Jesus came to show us how to be spiritual people and to show us the way to God. I then asked if she would let me share what the Bible said about Jesus’ mission and she quietly nodded her head. I told her about mankind’s sin, his rebellion against God, the punishment we all deserve in Hell for our rebellion, that Jesus came and purposefully died in our stead and took our punishment upon himself on the cross, that He rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God, and that eternal life in heaven is promised to all who give their life to Him.

She sat there silent for a few seconds and then got up to use the restroom. I was so nervous that I was shaking – I had never done anything like that before! I have always been pretty shy about sharing the Gospel because I don’t like offending people. I didn’t know if she was going to come back or if she was going to avoid me from here on out. So, after I used the restroom I returned to see her sitting back in her old seat with my former seat still vacant. “What the hay,” I thought, “why not try sitting back down by her?” To my surprise she did not get up and walk away, but instead continued with our previous small talk. She then shared a few more of her spiritual encounters before we began to board. I never talked to her again after that, and she did not make eye contact as I passed her on the plane. Please keep praying for her, that she will be protected from the Evil One and that her eyes will be opened to the Truth.

Please understand that I am not trying to sound as if I am some great evangelist or that this was easy. In hindsight there are a lot of things that I should have said or could have said better. One example is that I wish I would have asked her to test the spirits – try reading the gospel of John out loud and see if the spirits try to stop her. I would expect them to be quite unhappy about her reading the Truth.

I suppose it will always be the case that we could have said more in these situations. We just have to remember that it is the Holy Spirit who draws the heart and not our eloquence or persuasive arguments. Paul boasted that he knew nothing apart from Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-2). Apologist Greg Koukl likes to say that his goal is not to win converts in these situations; rather, he wants to leave a stone in their shoe – leave them with something to think about that makes them question what they believe. I hope to see this sweet little old lady in heaven someday, as I hope to see all of you, too.
Until next time,
Chad