When in Rome

It is great to know that when we obey our Father and live sacrificially he rewards us in this life. Today I am resting after a long and wonderful weekend. As some of you know, every couple of months I have to leave Romania for a period to renew my visa. So, Rome seemed to be a good place for me to see because of the really cheap travel fare ($100 round trip plane ticket). First, I feel as though I should make some qualifications here about these travels to make sure that I save face in front of all of you guys that support me back home: I spend the nights in hostels, eat conservatively, and try to take the time to refocus myself in prayer.

Now this next part seemed to be a surprise for me. I was expecting to kinda "have a break from ministry" on this trip and I did to a certain respect, but I also had 2 great opportunities to share Jesus with fellow travelers to Rome. First, I met Keith on the 30 minute train ride to downtown. He is a South African high School Geography teacher residing in London who decided to spend the summer seeing the rest of Europe by purchasing one of those all-of-Europe train tickets. Anyway, after he told me this he asked me what I am doing here and I responded by saying, "I live in Romania as a Christian Missionary." He responded in astonishment saying, "I did not know there were missionaries any more." I further explained that there is a lot of ignorant and mindless religion in the world that is not connected to a personal relationship with God. He agreed with this statement in sort of a nod of the head reaction. We talked about traveling Europe and what we've heard about each city, Jesus, and my joy in my calling to travel proclaiming his good news. There is much left out because I remember that the 30 minute ride seemed as only a couple of minutes. We got off the bus in downtown Rome and we were going to get on different Metro lines to our hostels when he offered me a cigarette saying, "I think I'm going to have a smoke and catch the next one. You care to join?" I denied the offer of course because I don't smoke and was running late for check in at the hostel. As we parted I told him I appreciated the conversation. I'm not sure that Keith was a believer, but I hope that you guys will pray for him and for me to be more bold with my witnessing opportunities.

Second there was Dave. After leaving Keith behind, I made my way to check in at the hostel where I found him, my only roommate for the night (there could have been 2 more because I slept in a 4 bed dorm). At our first meeting, Dave explained his amazing story of why he was in Rome. When you ask people how they like Rome you don't expect them to say, "I hate it," but that's just what he said. I had to ask, "Why?" He began to tell of a race between him and his friend that went from the USC Trojan Coliseum in California to the Roman Coliseum in Italy. They started with no money and after 2 months here was Dave, broke and stranded in Rome. I congratulated him and asked, "where is the other guy?" He said that the other guy stopped in Tampa, what a loser. Anyway, I learned that Dave was from Salt Lake City and then we parted ways a while I explored the ancient part of Rome, the forum, Coleseum, and the Trevi fountain after dinner at dusk (best time to see it by the way). I met back with Dave in the Hostel around 10 PM where our real conversations began that wouldn't end until 3 am. After I explained that I am a Christian missionary in Romania he said, "I know how hard mission work is. I was on mission for two years in Mexico." My mind put things together instantly:

Dave was from Salt Lake City, Utah
+ 2 year mission
----------------------------
Dave was a Mormon

Anyway, I thought that Dave was a pretty cool guy so far and I did not want to get into a screaming theological argument so I kept things simple at first. I found out quickly one reason why Dave hated Rome. Dave was trying to get money by being a pub crawl host. One of the only ways that Americans can get money in Rome is to host a "pub crawl" where you take and take care of Americans and English speaking people around the city while they get plastered drunk. For a Mormon who was attending Brigham Young University who doesn't cuss, drink alcohol or perhaps caffeine, this was a bad and perhaps prodigal situation. Anyway, at first we were hitting on all cylinders talking about a personal relationship with Jesus and subsitutionary atonement. He was so excited to talk to another "Christian" and I was delighted to have the conversation while trying to keep my cool and not let the conversation turn south. With a serious tone in his voice he asked me, "do you have any key doctrinal statements memorized about your faith?" In my mind I was like, "okay, here we go." So while he sat patiently I explained to him about the inherency of Scripture and about how we believe in a "closed canon." His questions followed quickly about apostleship and I think I said that once the apostles died, revelation stopped. If this were true for the both of us, there would be no difference, no need for Joseph Smith. One thing everyone must know about Mormons is they know their stuff. Sometimes quoting from memory paragraphs from the book of mormon, he explained the 15-17 doctrines. He was respectful, honorable and patient with me as I was with him. I don't believe I was being forceful as my thoughts mingled with silent prayers as I talked to him about each point of his belief. Honestly, the breaking point between us is a matter of history. I can see one card that holds up the Mormon stack; Constantine and the Nicene Creed misinterpreted and left out portions of the current canon. According to Mormonism (through Dave), Joseph Smith purposed to correct the evil corruptions the Catholic Church did to Scripture. Even with this said, Dave explained his appreciation for what was found in the Bible and it is a matter of grace that we have what we do have. I have to say though, which is easier to believe? God spoke through a prophet in a North American civilization (Egyptian-Native American Indian) during the time of Christ about a people that would exist 1850 years later through Joseph Smith OR the previously persecuted early church fathers were not perfect but faithful people God used to give us his word. Although ignorance is often confused with modesty (Chesterton), I believe faith to be rational. I believe in asking good questions rather than beating truths into people's brains. For example, I asked Dave, What was the motivation of the church for doing this? What are the things specifically that the early church wanted to censor or omit? Can I be saved without Joseph Smith? What is the difference between what Joseph Smith and what the Bible says? These questions are tough for Mormons and require of them not what I call faith, but imagination. My heart grows with sorrow for people with beliefs outside of orthodoxy, but at the same time, I am grateful for ability to proclaim Jesus to a person who is thirsty for truth. Anyway, pray for Dave and Mormons and we all should read history that can help us carry on conversation with all people as Paul did in Athens.

I could begin to tell you many stories of of all of the magnificent sights of Rome and connect them to Spiritual lessons in some cliche way, but I wanted to expound a little about these two experiences along with a hard lesson that I had to learn towards the end of my trip. Some of you are probably thinking, "where are the pictures?" Well, long story short, I was at the Trevi Fountain on Sunday and slowly wandered into the church there to pray to Christ, my only advocate and to listen to the choir. While I was in the church praying, I had my camera by my side up against me in the pew. Someone must have snatched the camera when my head was bowed. Tragically this put a period to my trip to Rome. More than the camera, I miss the 300+ pictures that I took. Oh well, you know we all learn lessons in life, some come easy, some come with hurt. Now I am back safe and sound and enjoying this moment sharing with all of you who read. For the length of this post please forgive me.