Christian minister Dave describes a ferry conversation with his bunkmate John, who asked if Dave was responsible for making him Christian. Dave realized he'd never thought of his role that way, using a river and stepping stones as a metaphor for spiritual journey. He sees himself as one stone among many, not the final one leading to Christ.
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This is Dave on the Edge. One time when I was crossing Bass Strait on the Spirit of Tasmania going from Melbourne to Tassie, I got involved in a conversation with my bunkmate. We had been talking the night before, and then when we got up in the morning, we sat and had breakfast together and we talked for quite a while. And then he, knowing that I was a minister now and I knew that he was an antique collector and we'd shared a lot of stories, he said, "Dave, can I ask you a question? You don't have to answer it if it's offensive or if you don't want to answer it." He said, "That's fine." I said, "No, you can ask me anything, John." He said, "Does it make you mad that I'm not going to become a Christian?" I said, "What do you mean? I don't understand the question." He said, "Well, you're a Christian minister, right?" I said, "Yeah." "So isn't it your job to make me become a Christian?" I just had this really amazing kind of thing go through my head. I'm thinking, "I never even thought about it like this." But of course, people out there, when you're doing your job, you're doing what you're paid to do, and he thought that's what my job was. The whole conversation for 4 hours that we'd been having, he was waiting for me to get to the sales pitch, waiting for me to try to make him into a Christian. And I said, "John, you know, life is really like a river that we're walking across. It's a journey, and there's stepping stones. There's all these stones in the journey, and some of the stones are stepping stones. They help us get further, and other stones are stumbling blocks, and they cause us to fall in and drift downstream." And when I've been talking to you today, and I suppose when I talk to most people, I see myself, I hope that I've seen myself as a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block, that I've taken them one step closer to Jesus. But to think that I would be that one person that was the final stone before you met Jesus, I think that's pretty arrogant. But I hope that I've led you the right direction. But I do have to tell you something, John. I believe in God and I believe in the power of prayer. And I know your name now and I'm going to be praying for you. And he said, He said, "That's alright, thanks Dave." And I said, "You're welcome." This has been Dave on the Edge. Where do you stand?
