A "Smart Card"...and a blind heart...

Today I ventured out in a new area of sharing my faith: the "smart card", used by Way of the Master Ministries. I knew that my mom and Sarah had used them before, so I thought I'd give it a shot with my co-workers at work. This is how it went three separate times...

Take 1:

Contact: E - my very Catholic, but tenderhearted older co-worker. She understands so much of the truth of the Gospel, she just hasn't internalized it yet.

Situation: As E was getting ready to leave for her lunch break I snatched my smart card from my purse and asked if I could show it to her. She read it and held her thumbs on the center as it instructed her to do. When nothing happened, she laughed, asking if it was another one of my jokes. I encouraged her to flip it over and she did so, read the back, and then commented that she wanted to show it to her son (who has been demonstrating some wayward tendencies as of late). So far so good. No harm done -- no real gain in spiritual conversations, but that's alright. A seed was planted.


Take 2:

Contact: My Boss (also a strong Catholic)

Situation: My Boss and I were talking about various and sundry things, and I thought to myself: "Now's my chance to try out the smart card with him!" And so I did. I handed him the card and asked him if he would try it out for me, he said sure and proceeded to follow the instructions on the front of the card. When the square did not turn green, he smiled at me and I told him to flip it over and read the back. As he's reading, he's smiling, and then suddenly he comments:

"That's not true."

Me: "What's not true?"

Boss: "It's not true that if you hate someone, it's like committing murder in your heart."

Me: *flabbergasted silence*

Boss: "And it's not true that if you look at someone with lust that it's the same thing as committing adultery."

Me: *pause* "What? *pause* "How do you know that?"

Boss: "It's just not true."

Me: "But Jesus said that himself -- it's in the Bible. I can show you right where it is..." (for any curious to know it can be found in Matthew 5:21-29)

Boss: *gets up, not commenting on my last statement and procedes to change the subject to something about how Jesus' name has been proven to work powerfully even among natives in foreign lands who know nothing about God*

Me: *talks a little bit about the power in Jesus' name and then* "Hey, now, seriously, why do you believe that it's not true that if you hate someone it's the same as murdering and that lusting equals committing adultery in your heart?"

Boss: "It just can't be true."

Me: "Why?"

Boss: "You can't tell me that if I see some babydoll dressed up in a bikini on the beach and I react, that that's the same thing as committing adultery."

Me: "But that's what Jesus said Himself..."

Boss: "It just doesn't make sense."

Me: "So are you saying that you don't believe that you are doing wrong until you actually take action and DO something?"

Boss: "Well...yea."

Me: "So are you saying that you believe you're inherently good on the inside? That you aren't considered a 'bad person' until you've actually done something bad?"

Boss: "Yea...well....no."

Me: "So are you saying that you don't think your thoughts matter?"

Boss: ".....no....." *gets up and walks away, ignoring the subject*

This was a little more discouraging, but I suppose the fact that he was uncomfortable meant that God's Truth was convicting him a little bit...


Take 3:

Contact: S - my other co-worker who is generally closed to spiritual conversations

Situation:
After overhearing my conversation with my boss, she asks to see what I had given him. I hand her the Smart Card and she proceeds to try it out, holding her thumbs in the center. After 15 seconds she holds it up and says:
"There's green in there! Flecks of green!"
Me: "No there's NOT! It has to be ALL green. It is NOT green!" *laughs*

End of conversation.


Overall, I'd say the experience wasn't too bad, though I was shaking in my boots at various times. I just pray that the Lord continues to use me in my work place as a testimony of Jesus Christ and the Life He alone can give.