“I like Christianity for my nieces and nephews, gives them good morals. But I’m better off without it!” Tony says.
We were just walking down the street when we first saw his girlfriend and decided to talk with her. He joined within a couple minutes.
This man has been burned and he’s been burned bad.
He pulls out a family photo album from 7+ years ago, the last time he saw his family. He starts pointing and explaining. “This is one of my brothers, he was an ex-con with me. This is another brother, he’s gay. And this is his husband. And this is my other brother. He’s super religious, and this is his super religious wife and these are his super religious kids. It makes for super fun family gatherings,” he laughs.
“One time my nieces and nephews looked me and my brothers in the eyes, and you know what they said?” He laughs again. “They said, ‘You’re going to burn in hell.’ And then, they looked right at my gay brother and his partner and they said ‘And you two are going to burn in hell the most.’”
My heart shatters.
“Like I said, I like Christianity for my nieces and nephews. Keeps them out of trouble. But it’s not for me.”
“You know, sometimes with religion we can get it all wrong.” I chime in. “My Jesus is about so much more than just good morals. He’s about love.”
“Oh, you can try to convert me all day long but it’s not gonna happen!” he laughs.
“I wasn’t trying to convert you! I was just sharing about my Jesus.”
We get to share a little more about what we’re doing. This guy, while he’s been through a lot, he has a heart gold. He talks about the local community and the different ways he tries to support it. He offers to take us out scuba diving for an incredible rate to support all we’re doing. He shares how he just wants to help others out, how he’s doing the best he can.
A few days later we take him up on that offer.
That afternoon some of my other friends got to keep chatting with him.
He shows them that same family book he pulled out for us day one, so proud of it. You can tell how much this man loves his family. He points to his mom, “Look at her. She loves me I know she loves me. Look at that smile, I know she loves me. I miss her.”
Tony isn’t a US citizen; he was born in another country. He moved to the US with his family for a while, but after going to prison he was deported. That’s why it’s been so long since he’s seen his family.
“Tony,” my friend says, “when I look at this picture, I see a family that God loves. And I want you to know Jesus loves everyone in this family equally. Everyone the same.”
“I don’t know about that, but I know my mom loves me,” he responds.
“Everyone in this picture is loved by God,” she emphasized.
“These two probably a little less,” he says, pointing to he and his other ex-con brother.
“It doesn’t matter about your past,” she says.
“I don’t know if I believe that…”
That night Tony took us out into the middle of the ocean to see bioluminescent (AKA: glow in the dark) plankton. It was magical! When we came back he told us over and over again, “You guys are fun. I never knew Christians could be fun, but you guys are really fun!” We laughed.
The next morning we decided to sit before the Lord and ask if He had anything for us to tell Tony.
We got to give him a card with all the Lord spoke. Things like John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” Things like Romans 8 and our gospel of freedom.
Tony received his card with joy, making sure we knew that “this kind of thing means so much.”
Tony didn’t dedicate his life to Christ within our few days with him. But I am convinced he came to know Jesus’ love, grace, and freedom a little better through those days. And because I am sure of my God’s faithfulness, I know He’s not done chasing after Tony yet.
