TANNER SHARING GOD’S LOVE

Tanner was greeted loudly by a street preacher during his orientation week.

The older man was yelling loudly at everyone walking by about the darkness of their sin and how God sees what they do on their computers and such. Tanner said that much of what he was saying was true, but his method failed to engage the students and did little to demonstrate God’s kindness or love. Tanner, having spent quite a bit of time doing evangelism during his gap year, decided to provide the counterpoint for the street preacher. This wasn’t super easy as the guy began saying things like “Don’t listen to effeminate skinnyjean, man-bun wearing namby-pamby people claiming to know Jesus.” This is when he began to proclaim that God would throw all “li-ars into the fi-re” in a catchy cadence.

Meawhile, another student asked if he could video the exchanges and we have a lovely video of Tanner proclaiming God’s love over the hellfire and fear being spouted by the older man. The best part of the story is how it ended and even continues. The one who videoed it, Tanner, and the street preacher all began talking with one another. All three agreed that Jesus is God’s answer to the problem of sin and as they shared their stories together they began developing a friendship. God’s grace and good news can bridge all kinds of gaps!

Moreover, because many in Tanner’s dorm saw him talking to the “crazy” preacher dude, people have been asking him what they talked about and it has given him multiple opportunities to share the love of God. Below is a picture of the three new friends.