You Can't Push Your Religion On People On a Public Sidewalk!

The Elevator Story

Imagine you are out for a walk in a city very early on a Sunday morning There streets are empty and the city is quiet.

As you pass a construction site where they are building a new skyscraper you notice a van with words on the side that say "Acme Elevator Testing Company." You look toward the skeleton of the building and, way up high near the top of the building, you can see the elevator starting to come down.

As your eyes follow the open elevator shaft you notice a small girl playing in the sand at the bottom of the elevator shaft. You immediately realize the danger. The little girl has no idea that the elevator is being tested and she is about to be killed.

What would you do?

Would you say, "It's none of my business. The construction site is private property and I don't belong there." And then continue on your walk.

Or would you call out, "Little girl run! The elevator is coming down! Danger! You are about to be killed!" And run over to the building and pull the girl out from under the descending elevator?

Of course, you'd run over and save the little girl. Anyone would do that.

Then I explained to the young atheist that this was what I was doing. He was under the elevator, but was totally unaware of the danger. I was there to warn him of the danger. Warn him about the coming death and God's eternal wrath.

He looked right at me and said, "I understand. This makes sense." I then shared the gospel with him explaining that because he had broken God's law he faced the just penalty, and it is the death penalty. Just like the little girl under the descending elevator, he was unaware of the danger, but that did not mean the danger did not exist. His ignorance of his impending death did not mean it was not coming.

I then explained how Jesus died to pay the penalty he owed for breaking God's law.

Although he said he understood, and it made sense to him, he did not accept Jesus as his savior that evening. But a seed was planted.