Where do you find your hope? It’s a question that can go as deep as a person wants to take it. It’s a question that can stir a wide range of thoughts and emotions. Asking that question to someone you know well in a safe setting is one thing. Asking that question in Byron Bay where the culture is to surf all day and party all night along with a philosophy of life that “anything goes” is a little trickier. I put that question on a cardboard sign and sat out on a street corner the last two Friday nights. It’s not something I’ve ever done before, but the local ministries here recommended that our team should give it a try. 
The purpose of the sign is to be a conversation starter. It’s not to push beliefs on anyone or to sit behind the sign arrogantly thinking that I am better than the people who walk by. The experience has been incredible! You never know who is going to pass by or what their reaction is going to be. The cool thing is that Byron Bay is a place where almost everyone will read your sign, and the range of responses is extreme. Last week I had a guy tell me that I needed to educate myself but also had an excellent conversation with 4 Germans and an Australian guy who talked with me for at least 30 minutes explaining how he is on a search for truth in his life after not hearing much about spirituality while growing up in the bush. However, I think tonight’s experiences will better illustrate the range of responses that putting that particular question on a sign can elicit. I had one woman, who I later found out was from a local church, ask questions about my sign and then sat down next to me on the bench and pray for me. Shortly after, I had two drunk teens come by and after finding out that I put my hope in Christ, start calling me all sorts of unique things and telling everyone around to look at the guy who thinks there is truth to Christianity. Shortly after they moved on, a group of five local teens approached me and asked about the sign. They sat down on the sidewalk in a circle around me, and I asked them where they put their hope. They had various answers and certainly opposed my answer. A couple of them made the argument that the work I’ve seen the Lord do in me and in others was a credit to me being able to brainwash myself and morally following the God I’d convinced myself of existing rather than anything the Lord has actually done. They were really intelligent teens, and I enjoyed the opportunity to share with them. They challenged and argued everything I said, and I made sure their thought processes and philosophies didn’t go unchallenged as well. One very ironic thing happened while we talked. The two drunk teens returned to yell some more words at me and again made sure everyone within shouting distance knew there was a crazy Christian on the corner. I ignored them, but the teens sitting around me, who had argued with every word I said about Christ, started defending my Christian beliefs. Weird. As the group of five headed off to the next party, I heard a girl say that was the best faith related conversation that she’s ever had. Gotta love Byron Bay!!
