Jackson was a new person. He had been working hard before, but now he did it with a good attitude, knowing that he was doing his work “as unto the Lord.” He was attending the church meetings and reading his Bible regularly. He had been entrusted with the secret of how to get to the meetings. The map with the three X’s was the “tail” of the Ichthys symbol, which early Christians had used as a test to see if someone was a Christian. It consisted of two arcs drawn facing each other, with an overlap on one end, forming a symbol similar to a fish. On the map, Jackson just had to draw out the rest of the arc to find the house (most people could do it in their heads because they had had plenty of practice).
However, Jackson was immediately presented with a problem. Mr. Long had said to be very careful when telling the Gospel. However, it seemed to Jackson like no one in the church was spreading the Gospel. Yet when he read Matthew, he saw that Jesus commanded people to make disciples. Jackson thought back to his own conversion. If he had not found the church, he would never have heard the Gospel. What made the issue even harder for Jackson was the verse that said not to fear man who can only harm the body. It seemed to Jackson like the Scripture was clear; they shouldn’t worry about who knows they are Christian. Jackson decided to pray about it and ask Mr. Rallison.
Mr. Rallison had become Jackson’s mentor. He was always ready to answer Jackson’s questions. Jackson found out that Mr. Rallison had many physical ailments that caused him pain and frequently hospitalized him. Jackson noticed, however, that Mr. Rallison never complained. Jackson wouldn’t have found out about it if he hadn’t heard it from some other employees.
People were preparing to leave the Longs’ house (they had hosted that week’s meeting). Jackson decided this would be an appropriate time to ask Mr. Rallison about his predicament.
“Mr. Rallison, shouldn’t we be unafraid of who we spread the Gospel to?” asked Jackson
“What do you mean, Jackson?” responded Mr. Rallison.
“I mean that people keep telling me I have to be careful about who I share the Gospel to, but Jesus says not to fear those who can only harm the body”
“Well, Jesus was speaking to a different audience. They had different issues then than we did now,” Mr. Rallison said in his usual husky voice.
“But isn’t that what you said the “God-people” say? And didn’t you say we can’t morph the Bible to fit our whims; we have to let the Bible morph us?”
“Well…. yes, but….”
“But what?”
“We could be killed if we went around telling the Gospel.”
“That didn’t stop the martyrs throughout history who did it.”
Mr. Rallison held a thoughtful face for several seconds. At last, he spoke again.
“Jackson, my boy, I suppose you are right. In our attempts to protect ourselves, we lost sight of our true mission. Thank you. I will talk to Philip about this. It’s time for a change.”
The next day, Jackson decided it was time to tell those closest to him about Jesus. He decided to ask Mr. and Mrs. Long before telling Sophia. However, Noah’s birthday was next week. That meant he would get a chance to talk to him alone. He bought a hunting bow for Noah. He wanted to give him a Bible as well, but no one had any spares they could give to him. Noah decided to write out the Gospel on some index cards based on Bible verses. He put these inside the card he attached to the bow.
Noah had invited Jackson and a few other people over to play videogames at his house. When the time came for him to open presents, he opened all the cards containing cash or gift cards first. Then he moved on to the non-monetary gifts. He picked up the poorly-wrapped bow Jackson had brought him and said sarcastically “Hm… I wonder what this could be. I hope it’s a book!”
Everyone laughed at his joke. When Noah opened the bow, he thanked Jackson, then he opened the card. As he read, his face fell.
“Everyone out except for Jackson,” he said as calmly as he could.
“What’s wrong?” asked one of his friends.
“I said out!” he yelled back.
Everyone packed up their things and left.
“What’s going on Jackson?” Noah asked when the last car drove away.
“I’ve seen Christianity for what it really is, not what people say it is.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means Jesus has changed my me and I want to share that change with you.”
“How could you do this, Jackson? Every time we’ve talked about Christianity, you were always on my side. How could you join this hate-group?”
“I realized that they aren’t the way they seem.”
Noah glared at Jackson for a few seconds, then he yelled at him to leave.
“Please, just read the message on the cards,” Jackson implored.
“Just go,” Noah said quietly.
Without another word, Jackson picked up his stuff and left. He was sad that his friend had not even given the Gospel a chance, but he was happy that he had at least “planted the seed.” Maybe someone else would come and water it.
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