Hi Christian and everyone else.
Christian, I can definitely empathise with you! I take public transportation and I hear all sorts of offensive, blasphemous talk before and after I leave work. I have had some growing experiences however as a result of this.
Several months ago, I got on the bus after work and there must have been about 10 younger people, all in the back, making you wouldn't believe what kind of noise and disturbance. I sat down about half-way in the bus, put my head down and prayed. At first I wanted so badly to confront them about it, but, as I believe the Lord restrained me, I just prayed, asking God for wisdom.
After several minutes I remembered I had some [i]To Whom Will You Turn[/i] tracts from Living Waters with me, and after summoning courage enough to pull them out of my backpack I stood up and headed for the back of the bus. I said something along the lines of 'alright, if I've got to listen to you guys, you're going to have to listen to me.' I said it in a firm but non-demanding and light-hearted way. So I proceeded to hand them each a tract and this lead to them reading it outloud! What's more all the noise they were making ceased, praise God!!
This incident led to several conversations with them whenever I'd see them on the bus again. They would even invite me to come to the back and join them. In that first moment, back when I sat down on the bus, I had a choice - I could have confronted them about their 'evil ways' by treating them as an enemy, the way I have unfortunately looked upon 'wicked' people before, I could have done that, or I could have approached them as a friend. This latter response was in no way natural to me and I think it is by God's grace that we can befriend those who are hostile or offensive to us.
Something else here I should be clear about. I don't mean to suggest I softened what I said to them becuase I tried to approach them in a friendly way, not at all - I shared with them all about sin and the justice of God. But they were not 'put off' by it and I think that has to do more with how we approach them with what we have to say.
Something too I think is just under the surface of all that is, [i]do we feel threatened[/i] by them or not. It's much easier to be calm and approachable when you do not feel threatened.
I empathise with you brother. I know how difficult it is to be constantly bombared with ungodliness. I definitely believe we need the grace of God to remain at once pure within and gentle without...
Some encouraging words about enduring this sort of thing, though much worse, come to mind that are here at SI.
Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, in one or maybe more of his messages about being in prison, talks about the communist brainwashing techniques they endured. As I remember it, they were brought into a plain, empty room, and made to sit on the floor for 17(?) hours a day and made to listen to the same phrases over and over again through the loud speaker.
These phrases were something like:
His wife, Sabina, also talks about how difficult it was to endure the foul cursing of the other prisoners in her prison. Their testimony is a powerfull testimony indeed to the power of God to keep His own through anything!
God's grace be with you Christian.
