I was in my room when I got a call from a friend of mine who's an associate Pastor, Joseph Pittano. He's coming into town tomorrow morning and wanted to see me (awesome friend). He wanted me to drive him. So, I wanted to clean out my car – it was 12 AM or so. So, I drove to the gas station to use the vacuum. I vacuumed it out and everything when a man rode up on his bike with a flat tire and asked me for some food, a shower, and a place to sleep. I got out $2 and put it in a One Heartbeat Away and got ready to witness. He told me he just left jail and is going to work a temp. job tomorrow but has rode 30 miles or so and is just really tired. I told him I was a broke college student with very little. So, I witnessed to him. He almost rolled his eyes like he'd heard it all before. I prayed with him for his needs. He thanked me and took off. Then I realized something:

James 2:14-17, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” (KJV)

Matthew 25:41-43, “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.” (KJV)


As I drove away, I asked the Lord to forgive me for not fulfilling this. Though I'm a broke college student, I have a small room in a student housing apartment where he could have spent the night on my couch – I'm single with no family to endanger, am allowed by my lease to have guests up to 3 days, have extra clothes and sheets, and could have spared him my food and everything. He might have been more open to receiving what I had to say if I'd have given him these things. I also possess nothing really valuable and can lock my room-door at night. I knew this well when I was with him but didn't want to be burdened with upsetting my normal routine and thinking about security. What a joke. Fell for one of Satan's lies, I suppose.

Well, after this I was really dismayed with myself. I decided to go to Wal-Mart to pick up some items to prepare for tomorrow. I was walking through the door-way when someone in a dirty wife-beater asked me for $0.18. It's so funny when people ask for such an exact amount. I handed him a quarter and immediately asked him if I could buy him some food. He followed me and we walked the aisles as he picked out what he wanted. Apparently I'd witnessed to him before! I met him in front of Walgreens and I'd given him my personal copy of the Bible after witnessing to him and he said he'd been reading it. He had a place to stay with a relative and a place to store food. So, after that we went to wait in line. We remembered that he forgot to get the $0.16 noodles, so he went back. That's when it happened and the young man fell.

He was surrounded by paramedics, all of which didn't do very much. I told them what I'd seen and they said, “Thank you, have a good night.” to get rid of me. I returned and told them that he'd fallen on the back of his head really badly (which no one seemed to have mentioned) and probably had a concussion and that is why his nose is bleeding. They accepted it and told me that they were C-spining him and that it was fine. But, the man didn't know that I'd taken the class and knew what C-spining was for – just for axial spine stabilization in order to transport the patient safely and so that they aren't a liability. They C-spine everybody for everything! If he fractured a rib or sprained an ankle they'd C-spine him! I felt really bad for the young man because his girlfriend mentioned that he wasn't diabetic at all and it certainly wasn't a seizure – he had no prior history of falls. They don't know what it was. The paramedics walked in. They didn't rush in. And they walked very slowly.

I gave my former witnessee a ride back to where he was staying after we prayed for the young man together. On the way back to my apartment, it really hit me: men trust in doctors and trained professionals because they know exactly what to do for a given situation and to make them better. At that time if that young man were unconscious and not breathing, I as a first-responder wouldn't know what to do – I'd forgotten everything in my training. And the paramedics weren't doing very much. Who could have helped this man? He could have been dead in 3 minutes.

Pastor Dave Dodge of Calvary Chapel Saint Petersburg once said in a sermon – Christians are like tow-trucks. The world looks to us when they're on the side of the highway with a flat tire. And how much does it hurt when they're stranded and we just pass them by? We have the ability to help them it is clear. We have the authority to help them. But when we just do nothing – how awful is it a witness of our Lord's grace, love, and kindness as His chosen people through whom He chooses often to dispense His grace along with His gospel? If we don't bear witness to the Gospel message with our actions in actively seeking to help people, what good is it to try and preach to people? The Gospel is still the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16) and can salvation is still of God (Psalm 68:20) who can very easily save without our works – but we're still called to do what we're called to do – works apportioned to us from the foundation of the world (Eph 2:10).