The Man at the Fair

A story about an encounter with a man at a fair we were working when we had an ice cream business.

Here goes:
The man would come by our booth and brag about all his ugly conquests, filthy habits and drunkenness. One day my husband asked him if he knew where he was going when he died. The man answered flippantly that he didn't care he had friends in both heaven and hell. Then the man asked my husband, "where do you think I am going?" My husband answered by saying "well, hell of course", the man became so angry he ran off before my husband could tell him more.

Here's the thing, why was he angry, he told my husband he didn't care because he had friends in both places. My educated guess is that he lied when he said he didn't care. He didn't want to go to hell and probably even thought he was going to heaven because he was a friendly guy.

So often when people respond flippantly about hell it has more to do with what they want to believe than what they really believe. They want to believe all the fun wild people are going to hell where there will be constant drinking and immorality.

When they are faced with the truth they get afraid like an angry dog and attack rather than facing the horrors they know in their heart are true.

Romans 1:19-21 "…19 For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts."

We don't know what happened to the man after that, we do know that God will use it and that perhaps someone else will come along in that man's life and water him a little more.

The man at the fair didn't want to believe he was bad enough to go to hell, but in his heart of hearts he knew it.

1 Corinthians 3:6-9
"6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.
7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.
8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building."

Don't fear that you were not able to tell the whole gospel to someone. Our job is to do what the Holy Spirit tells us and He will send the next person to finish the job.