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A Conversation with an Angel by C. H. Fisher |
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A certain man was walking through a parking lot on the way to his car when someone greeted him from behind."Hi, friend." The man turned around, but didn't recognize the other man who spoke to him. He didn't want to be rude, so he replied, "Hey, how ya doing?" "I'm doing quite well. I realize that you don't know me, but you seem like a nice person and I was wondering if you could help me with something." "Sure, how can I help you?" "I'm trying to find a good church to attend. Can you recommend one to me?" The man immediately quit smiling and said, rather bluntly, "I don't go to church." "Really. Why not?" "Too many hypocrites." "Hypocrites—is that all?" "That's enough," the man responded, a bit cagey. "What do hypocrites have to do with it?" "You know—they act like they're so righteous. But when they leave the church, they sin like the blue blazes." "Yes, that would be the definition of a hypocrite alright. But I still don't understand what that has to do with you attending church services." "I just don't like going to church with hypocrites." "Why don't you attend church services where there are no hypocrites?" "You kidding? There are no churches like that. They're all full of hypocrites!" "So, you're telling me that no true Christian should attend a church service where hypocrites are present. And you are also declaring that all the churches have hypocrites in them. That means that a true Christian should not attend a church service, anywhere. Is that correct?" "Well…I don't believe I said that, but I'm not going to go to a church full of hypocrites." "Are you a true Christian? In other words, you're not a hypocrite." The man looked at him, puzzled, and then looked down. The stranger didn't say anything for several moments. The silence was deafening. Finally, the man spoke, "I'm not a Christian. And I know what you're thinking, but no, I don't pretend to be one either." "I wasn't thinking that you were pretending to be a Christian at all. I was wondering why you were not a Christian. I mean, you're so concerned about the church and the purity of Christianity. Why not do something about it?" "I'm not a Christian because of all the hypocrites!" the man said angrily. "But they don't have anything to do with being a Christian. If, according to you, a Christian should not attend church services because of hypocrites, then they have nothing to do with being a Christian." "I don't understand this entire Christian thing. Hypocrites pollute the church, make the pastor's message unbelievable, and hinder worship." "But if you're not there when they do these things, then it doesn't matter. Hypocrites do not change the Bible. Do you have a Bible?" "Yes, but that has nothing to do with what I'm talking about." "Has it changed at all since you've owned it?" "No, silly! But hypocrites make it seem false or unbelievable." "But it isn't false and no one can prevent you from believing it. I know people who were tortured beyond description, then executed. They never quit believing the Bible. How is it that the mere presence of a hypocrite in a church service, which you do not attend anyway, can cause you to disbelieve the Bible?" The man was confused by that question. He searched his mind for a response, but could not come up with one. "If one can be a true Christian without attending a church service, and you need the complete absence of hypocrites to believe the Bible, why don't you become a Christian at home?" the stranger continued. "You could invite some more true Christians and have meetings in your home." The man realized that he was rapidly being backed into a corner. He became defensive. "Look—I'll become a Christian when I get good and ready. Besides, I don't know any true Christians," he blurted out, his face turning red. "Well, no one has ever been good and ready to become a Christian. Without Christ, all of humanity is lost, miserable, and bound by sin." "Are you calling me a sinner?" the man asked, anger edging into his voice. "You have declared yourself to be a sinner since you said that you were not a Christian." "I didn't say I was a sinner, just not a CHristian. I didn't say what I was. I simply said that I do not go to a church. I'm just as good as those hypocrites filling up the churches." "That may be so, but God is not going to judge you by a false product. He is going to judge you by the example that He sent—Jesus Christ. Now, if you say that you are not a hypocrite, and are not a sinner, the only option that is left is to be a Christian. However, you also say that you are not a Christian. What are you if you are not one of these three?" Now the man was completely angry. "I am what I am, that's who. And I don't need anyone telling me who I am." The stranger was visibly shaken by the man's explanation of who he was. He stared at him for a moment, and then his eyes began to fill with tears. "Oh, now I understand exactly who you are." "What do you mean?" asked the man, his tone softened somewhat by the stranger's tears. "You're a god." "A god! Now you've really misunderstood me. When did I say that I was a god?" "You said, 'I am what I am.' I AM is the name of God. Here is what the Scriptures declare: And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." (Ex 3:14 NKJV) I Am is where the name Jehovah or Yahweh comes from." "Hey—I'm not a god. It was just a figure of speech. I was just trying to explain who I am…that's all." "You say that you are not a hypocrite, a sinner, or a Christian. But you say; 'I am what I am.' The position that you have declared is that of being a god to yourself. You are a god. No one tells you what to do. No one defines you because you reject all the definitions. You have your own righteousness, and reject the righteousness of Christ, but refuse to be called a sinner. You refuse to be called a hypocrite, but also refuse to be the opposite of one. "I know that you are a hypocrite and a sinner," continued the stranger. "You abuse your wife, you take advantage of people, you curse, drink alcohol, use drugs, cheat, and are involved in pornography, despise Christians, and hate pastors. You do everything that hypocrites do, yet you expect them to be better than you before you will surrender to God." "How dare you talk to me like that? I don't have to listen to this crap!" The man turned to walk away. "No," continued the stranger, "you don't have to listen to me and you won't listen to anyone about your condition no matter what they say or how they say it. According to you, no one is qualified to speak to you on the matter. You're a god—remember?" The man turned around. "You don't know anything about me. I'm not anything like what you said. I've not done any of those things." "Now you are a liar as well. You are guilty of those things I mentioned and more. I saw you do them. The truth is; you don't want to be surrendered to God because you have decided to be a god yourself. Hypocrites have nothing to do with it, since you are also a hypocrite. You are trying to be a god, but you behave as a devil. If you really wanted to be a Christian, ten million hypocrites couldn't stop you. You are simply using the most convenient excuse to avoid surrendering to God. If it wasn't hypocrites, it would be something or someone else." "I ought to kick your butt! In fact, I'm going to beat you so bad that your mother won't recognize you!" "So, what are you now? An example of someone better than a hypocrite? A good man who doesn't need Christ? For your information, I don't have and never had a mother." "You're crazy! What church do you belong to? You're some freaking cult member, or something—aren't you? A cult member trying to lecture me about Christianity! That's all I need right now!" "No—I'm an angel. I was sent by the Father to speak to you because the Father loves you. He knows that you've been hurt and discouraged by some people in the church—some of them Christians. But He also knows that you are about to step into a very dark pit from where there is no return. You are about to become an atheist. He sent you the truth and you have a Bible, but you chose to let flawed people define His Gospel. "Don't you see that you are not listening to Christ, not believing the Bible, and not even trying to surrender to God? Instead, you are obsessed with hypocrisy. It is the weakest of all positions, but you have given it power over you. You say that you don't want to be a hypocrite, but you have allowed hypocrisy to drive you to the brink of atheism. "Millions of people will stand before God who lived on earth during the very worst times of apostasy. Some of them did not know one other Christian during the worst time of their lives. They died after spending many years in a filthy, dark, rat-infested prison, and refused to denounce Christ. Other ones were beaten beyond recognition, raped, sawed in half, starved to death, strangled, shot, beheaded, hung, boiled in oil, had their skin flayed off of them, and much more, but they never denounced Christ. "You have denounced Him because of hypocrites that have never even laid one finger on you. You refuse to serve God and say that it is because of hypocrites. The truth is, you don't want to serve God and you're about to become an atheist. I cannot say anything more and I must go now." The angel vanished instantly. The man was stunned. He walked to his car and sat down in the front seat. I can't believe this has happened. I must be going insane, he thought. He's wrong about me. I've made some mistakes, but I have a good heart. Maybe I have been a bit tough on my wife, slapped her around a bit, but I help people. So what if I indulged in a few pleasures—I deserve them after what I've been through. I'm not an atheist and I never will be one. I believe in God—I just don't believe in the same god that hypocrites believe in. "Then why don't you serve the true God and stop serving the same god that hypocrites serve?" said a Voice. The man turned around and quickly scanned his car and the area outside. There was no one in sight. "Who is the true God?" he asked. "How can you say that you believe in Him when you don't even know Him? I will tell you who He is. He is the one that you've been punishing because of you hatred for hypocrites. You claim that hypocrites are treating God badly. But your response is to reject Him. God did not cause hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is caused by people who say they love Him, but who reject His truth and live as sinners. They smear His name and treat Him wrong. Your response is to treat Him worse. You claim that you are concerned about His rough treatment and then reject Him yourself. Isn't that also hypocrisy?" "Who are you?" cried the man. "I am Christ, whom you are crucifying."
A Note to the Reader:
Hi, I'm C. H. Fisher. I wrote this story because of two men that I know. One of them committed suicide and the other one is following the exact same pattern. In fact, except for their names, there is very little different between their behavior and attitude toward Christianity. They both blame their lack of faith on hypocrites. Both of them abused their wives, were into pornography, drank alcoholic beverages, manipulate people, and despise pastors. When the one committed suicide, I tried to find a way to reach the other one. I sat down several times with pen in hand, but could not write anything that would counter his defensive spirit. Finally, I came up with this idea. If someone knew about the situation, but the man didn't know that individual, they might have an opportunity to confront him with the truth. Maybe, just maybe, that would cause him to think about the course he is on and the useless reasons for being on it. However, there are many people in the same spiritual condition. They refuse to face the real reason why they will not surrender to God. Instead of facing the truth, they hide behind walls that few people can breech with the truth. What makes it even more difficult is that they become very angry when anyone gets close to the truth. At that point all hope of reaching them is usually lost. Maybe you're one of those people. You are sitting here reading this and trying to shake it off. If it wasn't exposing your spiritual condition, it wouldn't bother you so much. You might respond with, "Don't you think you're being a bit blunt and preachy?" Yes. Most of the time and in most situations a person should use tact and can even avoid confrontation by using benign, non-piercing statements. However, when people's eternal souls are at stake, it is best to be clear and precise. No one can force you to surrender to God. God will not even force people to submit to Him in faith. That decision is totally ours. My only hope and prayer is that each person will consider their reasons for rejecting God. If a person is honest and declares, "I just do not want to surrender to Him," then that is at least being straight up about the matter. But when a person hides behind false reasons, it is a very dangerous predicament that should be exposed for what it is. It is deception to blame one's lack of surrender on other people, experiences or circumstances. We either surrender or don't surrender because of our will and choices. God is going to one day sit in judgment of every soul. He will not count the number of hypocrites that repulsed us. Neither will He consider the number of times that people failed to live a perfect Christian life. It will not be the number of pastors that backslid, or the churches that split and fought like cats and dogs. He will not count toward our defense any other incident great or small that happened to us. The only thing that will matter is if we had the opportunity to surrender to his lordship, and yet rejected Him. Have you rejected Him? Why? Are you honest with your answers? I hope so because you will have to live eternally with the consequences.
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