As a frequent flyer in Economy Class, I’ve noticed how the close seating arrangement seems to give passengers freedom to converse about deeply personal subjects. It happened again recently.

I found myself jammed beside a man and woman each in their 30s but unrelated to one another. Julie*, a married mother of a six-year old daughter, was on a business trip. Derek* was a Science Major who worked in the medical field servicing imaging equipment.

Then it was my turn to tell what I did for a living. I explained that I worked in the field of education, researching and developing materials for students that know little or nothing about the Bible. I also taught objective seminars on the Biblical books in a way that helped people to make sense of life and death. I braced myself for a quick change of subject but, instead, was pleasantly surprised when both my listeners wanted to know more. An amazing conversation ensued.

Derek openly expressed that he wanted to be married—he desired a wife who would share his “worldview.” But he was stuck. He confessed, “I don’t know what to believe. I was fed all kinds of philosophies in university but most of them didn’t make sense. I don’t have answers. I need to know my worldview before I can find someone who thinks the same way…And I want to have kids. But I don’t know how I would answer their questions or what I would teach them.”

At this point, Derek turned to Julie and asked, “Like, how do you answer your daughter’s questions? What do you tell her?” To which she replied, “I can’t! I’m the same as you. I don’t have answers! My daughter recently asked me why Grandma died and I couldn’t tell her! I didn’t know what to say!”

Here I was, wedged beside two intelligent people who wanted answers to the big questions about life and death, and we would be starting our descent in 20 minutes. Where should I begin? I breathed a silent prayer for wisdom.

Postmodernism, coupled with biblical illiteracy, has left intelligent people like Derek and Julie groping for answers in a world that makes no sense at all. I knew that the answers they desperately needed would require some biblical background—some context. If I assumed too much, I risked adding to their confusion. Worse, in my zeal to share the gospel, I could create a wrong perception about the Bible—one I, too, would reject if I were in their shoes.

So, instead of jumping into a presentation of the “cross-work” of Jesus Christ, I presented Derek and Julie each with a copy of the book, By this Name. I took the remaining time before our descent to explain how it provided an objective outline of the biblical worldview, one that looked at life from the viewpoint of the Creator of life—a view that made sense of history and of life.

Well, you would have thought I had given them each a thousand dollars. Julie immediately began thumbing through the book and then held it close to her chest thanking me profusely, “This is just what I’ve been looking for.” Derek was equally grateful, exclaiming “I don’t think our sitting together was accidental!”

GoodSeed resources have helped me time and again to give…

…an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (1 Peter 3:15)

* Name has been changed

What Next?

  • We often hear stories of how peoples' lives are being changed through the use of our materials. If you'd like, here are some of those stories.
  • To learn more about the book that was given to Julie and Derek, check out By this Name.