A Rainbow Colored Encounter Sharing The Gospel In The Virtual World

As Simon fired up his VR headset (Valve Index), to serve God through evangelism, he started with an intentional prayer in obedience to our Lord. After praying, he put on his VR headset and launched VR Chat. Simon joined one of the many virtual worlds that often are suitable for engaging in deep conversational topics such as “What do you think happens when you die?”

After just a few minutes of searching, someone in this virtual world wrote “Satan Loves Souls” on an adjacent wall. In response, Simon wrote “Jesus Loves You” and drew an arrow pointing to this truth.

This lost person, who we will refer to as “Mr. Agnostic”, wrote out hasteful responses such as ''evil” ,''lies”, and “not true”. The Holy Ghost led Simon to then begin writing out The Gospel presented in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

{ In Virtual Reality culture, some individuals go by the title “mute” which basically means they choose to never/sometimes speak and instead rely on writing text or body language to communicate. Many young people in VR struggle with social interactions/anxiety but still desire to be around people. The VR gaming community happens to also have a large deaf community who communicate mainly through hand signs and written text who are not “mute” by choice. While evangelizing, it is certainly important to know the difference when trying to communicate with others! }

Speaking Out

A girl with the gamer tag of “Zelda” soon approached and asked in voice “Who wrote these things about Jesus Christ?” Simon responded in voice “It was me.” Zelda responded in agreement saying that it was true! Zelda said she knew Jesus does indeed love us, and that he did in fact die for our sins!

This prompted Mr. Agnostic, who had only been writing until now, to speak! He began to ask Simon different questions about God. While protesting each answer, Mr. Agnostic kept declaring his belief that God isn't real. Simon responded with grace, and offered evidence for why he believed in Jesus. [1 Peter 3:15]

Evidence for God

Simon discussed the complexity of DNA, how the universe had a definitive beginning and likewise must have had something to begin it. This would require a space-less, timeless and immaterial creator outside of the universe itself who created everything we see, hear, feel, and know. The conversation then shifted into objective morality, which could not exist without God as the definitive moral law maker.

“Well I’m actually a ‘homosexual’, so... what do you and God think about that?!”

— Mr. Agnostic

Mr. Agnostic had a notable change in his demeanor the moment the conversation shifted towards evidence. He started actively listening to Simon, instead of being so combative as he was before. As Mr. Agnostic began to open up more with Simon, the true stumbling block, the sin that was encouraging him to deny God was revealed… Mr. Agnostic proudly confessed that he was a homosexual. Knowing Simon was a Christian, he asked Simon how he felt about this. Mr. Agnostic followed up by asking Simon what God would think about that?

Sexual Identity, The True Stumbling Block

A common belief among those who struggle with the sin of homosexuality, is that God and every Christian out there hates them for who they are! This couldn’t be further from the Truth! Often times people align their particular sin with their identity, which acts as a barrier between them and God. It is important to always explain to these individuals that neither we, nor God hates them. The truth is God loves them, so much in fact that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” [Romans 5:8] Simon explained that in the eyes of God, Mr. Agnostic was in fact a sinner… but not just because of homosexuality, but also because he has broken a plethora of God’s other moral laws (as we all have) which we can see by examining God’s Moral Law: The 10 Commandments.

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” [James 2:10]

There Is No Way I Have Broken The 10 Commandments Right?

When we examine ourselves honestly using the 10 Commandments, it is evident that we are all guilty of breaking God’s moral law! Everyone including those reading this right now have broken at least one of God’s Moral Laws in the past!

Bringing up the other laws that have been broken isn’t to diminish the sin of homosexuality or avoid the question, but it helps to reveal that the sin of homosexuality is not the defining reason alone of their (current) condemnation. We are all headed towards eternal damnation for breaking any one of God’s Moral Laws.

test: are you a good person?

The Bible says in Exodus 2:16 that lying is a sin against God! If we have lied once, by definition we are a liar.
The Bible says in Exodus 20:15 that stealing is a sin against God, even if we only stole once when we were young, it objectively makes us a thief!
Jesus said in 1 John 3:15 that if you hate your brother you are a murderer in your heart! We have all likely hated someone making all of us murderers!
God commands that we honor our mother and father in Exodus 20:12. This means every time we are cruel and dishonoring to our parents, we have broken his moral law and sinned.
God made it clear in Exodus 20:7 that He will not hold anyone guiltless who uses is name in vain such as saying “omg” or “JC” to express anger or disgust. God gave us our lives, and the mother who gave us life, yet we blaspheme his name and use it as a filth word. We are all guilty of this too!
Jesus says in Matthew 5:28 that if we look upon someone with Lust we have committed Adultery with them already in our hearts. Viewing pornography is a form of Lust, which makes those who have watched it, or anyone else who has Lusted otherwise, Adulterers!

Still think you’re a “good person”? If you answered “Yes!” read what Jesus says in Mark 10:18.

Don’t fool yourself and be self-righteous, because none of us are righteous! [Romans 3:10]

Why is homosexuality a sin?

The Bible specifically addresses homosexuality directly and refers to it as being an “abomination” in the eyes of the Lord. God makes it clear this is a specific sin that He hates. “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” [Leviticus 18:22] God passes judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah for this very sin in the Bible, showing how much of an “abomination” it really is to Him. [Ezekiel 16:50, Jude 1:7]

Simon explained to “Mr. Agnostic” how the Bible teaches that God made man and woman to come together and become one flesh. [Mark 10:6-8] He explained how God made us in such a way, that male and female compliment each other perfectly, both physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. “Mr. Agnostic” really began to listen. Simon explained we are made one for another in a very specific way. God’s design of marriage and sex between one man and one woman is for us to be fruitful and multiply. [Genesis 1:28] God designed sex as a wonderful gift between a man and woman within the confines of marriage, and even blesses them with children making them into mothers and fathers. [Psalm 127:3]

Lot and his family flee from Sodom as it is destroyed, his wife looks back and is turned to salt.

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE, READ THIS!

If I’m A Sinner destined For Hell, What’s The Point?

Once we recognize we have sinned, which we all have [Romans 3:23]. We must also recognize our need for a savior from these sins. As there is nothing we can offer God to atone for our sins [Mark 8:37]. We cannot save ourselves through any kind of work [Romans 4:1-12, Ephesians 2:8-9]. The Bible teaches the wages we earn from sinning, is death [Romans 6:23]. Once we die, which we all will, we will face judgment from God [Hebrews 9:27]. God is perfectly Righteous, Holy and Just. If we die in our sins, God’s wrath that we have stored up for ourselves will be poured out upon us in eternal punishment [Romans 2:5-13, Matt. 25:46].

The Point Is Jesus!

Being as merciful and loving as He is, God provided a way for us to be saved from our sins, and the eternal condemnation we bring upon ourselves because of them. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16]. Jesus proclaimed He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that no man comes to the Father but by Him! [John 14:6] Jesus Christ lived a perfect sinless life, and choose to die on the cross even though He did not deserve death. He did this to be the final sacrifice necessary to pay for our sins once and for all. He was the spotless lamb provided for us [1 Peter 1:19]. His blood is the propitiation for our sins [Romans 3:25]. Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and after 3 days He rose again, and later ascended into heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father. [1 Corinthians 15:3-8, Mark 16:19] He did this so that whoever would believe on Him, would have everlasting life. [John 3:15]

This eternal salvation is a free gift from God available to you this very moment!

God will remove your heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh. An all new spirit, His Spirit! The Holy Spirit, with all new righteous desires! [Ezekiel 36:26-27] You will be a completely new creation in Christ. [2 Corinthians 5:17]

Accept this free gift today by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ!

Repent! (have a change of mind) turning towards Him and away from your sin! Admit your sin, ask Him for forgiveness in prayer. It isn’t the prayer that will save you but the condition of your heart’s belief. You are saved by God’s grace through your Faith in Jesus Christ alone! [Ephesians 2:8-9]

Wait a minute, what happed to Zelda?

Zelda, who confessed the truths about Jesus after reading the scripture Simon wrote, was sitting by intently listening to the whole encounter. During this she was experiencing some very strong convictions against some of her own sins she had been willfully committing, which were really causing her to struggle with her faith…

If you’d like to read about what happened next when Simon spoke to Zelda check out part 2 of this witnessing session in the Evangelism Encounter: “A ‘Christian’ Convicted.”