One Playful Evening

Listen to the Youtube song as you read the story below:

There are few more depressing places than the lounge of an interstate Holiday Inn on a Friday night.  On weeknights the businessmen are still around, and they come in and give some life to the place.  But on Friday, those that can have managed to get home.  And, since the hotel is on the interstate, and far from anywhere, there aren't very many locals to take the businessmen's place.

That night was like a scene from a Billy Joel song.  A few scattered, leftover men were attempting to drown their sorrows while a rock band tried to generate some enthusiasm.  All were unsuccessful.

About half an hour later, there was a noise at the front entrance and about sixty people in their twenties came charging in.  The momentum began to pick up at once, and as the evening wore on, things got livelier.  A few couples began to dance and managed to get the businessmen to join them.  Soon there was improvised line dancing, which required us to move the tables.

The band caught the infectious humor and its performance level picked up several notches.  Later yet, a conga line started growing, extending around the room and even out into the lobby, drawing desk clerks and waiters into its rhythm.  As the line snaked back into the lounge and the music hushed for a moment, one of the band members yelled out, "This is great!  Who are you guys?"

The crowd shot back, "We're evangelists!"

Sadly, the evening ended all too soon after.  We'd been in staff training down the road all week and had simply taken a break.  We had to get back so we could get up early the next morning for further training and Bible study.

Did anyone become a Christian that night?  Not that I know of.  But nobody there will ever again think about "evangelists" in quite the same way.  "Evangelists" will now mean people who are great to have around, no matter what you believe.  Those young Christians were people you'd want at your party, especially if things were looking bleak, just as Jesus, according to the Gospels, seemed to be the type of person who was invited to many parties.


And, oh yes, one of the band members did become a Christian the night after..

*story as told by Paul Marshall in Heaven is Not My Home