Broken Beer Bottles and the Gospel - Mark Witte

A few weeks ago, it was a typical Sunday morning. When we arrived at church, I began to park in the first available spot on the street. As I was about to back into a parking spot, however, I noticed a man standing conspicuously behind the spot. As questions began to pop in my head as to why he was not moving as my rear bumper got ever closer to him, he walked along side of the car and motioned to lower the window. In the end, this man was being a good neighbor and was concerned for my car and family. He was standing there because, right where my wife would typically exit the car, there was a partially broken beer bottle with sharp glass protruding upward.

After thanking him for alerting us to it, I offered to get a broom from the church. Within a few minutes, I had the bottle and broken glass swept up and deposited in the dumpster.

Later that day, as an elder and I were about to close up the church after the evening worship service, the same man from the morning appeared around the corner on the sidewalk in front of the church. He soon stopped in front of our entrance and we began to talk. Though he has lived in the 3rd floor apartment above our church for the past 6 years that we have been open, this was the first time that he stopped to talk.

Unlike many Spaniards who are culturally Roman Catholic, but agnostic in practice, this neighbor mentioned that he often attends mass. He was curious, however, about what we believe and what we do as a Presbyterian Church. When I found out that he had never been physically inside of a Protestant church, I invited him to come take a look, and to my surprise, he accepted.

He was immediately impressed with our pulpit and appreciated seeing the Apostle´s Creed in a left over bulletin he took from a seat. In the end, that broken bottle turned into a Gospel opportunity. Someone´s trash allowed me to meet a neighbor of the church and spend 30 minutes talking to him about the Gospel.

In the letter to the Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 8-10 we read: “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Have you ever considered that sweeping up a broken beer bottle from the street could be one of the good works that God has prepared for you beforehand? Have you ever thought that a simple act of kindness could be used by God for Gospel good? 

Next to our church is a night club with a reputation for being loud and full of drunks who like to fight, litter, and urinate on the sidewalk which it shares with us and 30 apartments.

Most churches would not want to be located next to a bar. But, Providentially, this same bar has allowed us to shine the light of Christ all the more. Whether it is sweeping up beer bottles, throwing out half-full cans staked on the church windowsills, o bleaching and mopping up the urine on the door and the blood splatter on the walls, all are Gospel opportunities. 

The unbelieving world is constantly watching us, and every day of the week, we have opportunities to walk in the good works which God has prepared for us. The problem, however, is that all too often we walk around with our eyes closed. We don’t want to do a good deed. We don’t want to be burdened by picking up someone else´s trash. We think that the “good works” of Ephesians chapter 2 are huge things such as going on mission trips or participating in big evangelistic programs. We fail to consider, however, that they could be very small and mundane things such as picking up a broken beer bottle.

I don’t know if our neighbor will ever come back into the church. But, I do know that he and I now know each other by name. He also has my business card and told me that he would look up our YouTube Channel, where we livestream all of our services. If he does, he will hear the Gospel preached.

Theodore Roosevelt said: “People don´t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Loving and caring for your neighbors, therefore, is a very important first step if you wish to reach them with the Gospel. It is also what Jesus commands us. After loving the Lord, Jesus says that the “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt. 22:37-38)

Being a good neighbor often leads to Gospel conversations. All we need to do is keep our eyes open and pray that God would show us the good deeds which he prepared for us beforehand, and that He would lead us to walk in them. God is the God Almighty. Nothing is impossible for Him. He is so great that He can even use a broken beer bottle to soften the heart of someone to hear the Gospel.