The No Kool Aid Zone

Meeting Jesus at McDonald’s

Posted by Byron April 25, 2006 at 11:19 am
Filed Under Life as a Jesus-follower | 1 Comment |

God does some surprising things sometimes, doesn’t He? About twice a year, I guess, on average, I get a call from a couple I don’t know, asking if I’ll perform their wedding ceremony. I have some pretty strict standards (a good bit of required counseling, predicated upon the fact that both are Christ-followers). I send out a letter to this effect, and that has the effect of eliminating most of the applicants, folks who apparently like the idea of a “church wedding” done by a “preacher”, but who really aren’t interested in the whole Lordship of Jesus thing. In all my years of doing this, I’d only had one couple actually read the letter and set up a first meeting with me, and they, despite their words that they were very interested in pursuing things, never met with me again. The offer is sincere, of course; if people are—or are willing to become—serious about following Jesus and honoring Him in their marriage, I’m willing to walk that path with them. No one under such circumstances, however, has ever taken me up on the offer.

Until now.

They contacted me a couple of months ago, a couple planning on getting married but neither professing faith in Christ. I sent them the letter, and they said that they wanted to meet. We met, and I laid out in detail what I was talking about, and suggested that they talk about things and get back with me. To my surprise, they did, and so I instructed them to purchase the counseling manual I use (Preparing for Marriage God’s Way, by Wayne Mack). They bought it, did the first two chapters, and set up our first counseling session together. By this time, I confess, I’m pretty surprised, so I spend most of our first session not talking about marriage, per se, but about what I was really, really calling them to—just to make sure that they hadn’t somehow mistaken what I was talking about. They assured me that they weren’t, and so I told them that I needed to meet with them one-on-one, at McDonald’s, to talk with them further.

I met with her yesterday, and him today. And they each, after I presented the gospel, placed their faith in Christ as Savior and Lord. And they’re each serious, I believe, about following Him in their lives and in their marriage.

And that, folks, is pretty cool. And if you get a chance and will take a moment, stop and pray for them and for their relationship.